ACCEPTANCE OF SURGERY FOR OBESITY BY ACADEMIC SURGEONS IN NORTH-AMERICA

Background: Have surgeons in North America accepted operations for the treatment of severe obesity. This question was posed by organizers of the Ninth International Symposium on Obesity Surgery that met in Stoc kholm in September, 1995. Study design: In order to obtain opinions wh ich might help to answer the question posed, a 1-page questionnaire wa s sent to 151 chairmen of academic departments of surgery in North Ame rica in December 1994 asking about the acceptance and use of surgical operations for the treatment of severe obesity. Results: Answers, rece ived from 112 or 74%, indicated that operative treatment should be use d (74%), was effective (77%) and safe (71%). However, only 65% of depa rtments provided such operations. Operative treatment for obesity was available outside the department in 53%. The operations most frequentl y used were Rouxen-Y gastric bypass (RGB) and vertical banded gastropl asty (VBG). A single operation was offered by 44 departments and a cho ice of two or more operations in 30 departments, RGB and VBG were equa lly in use. Gastric banding was used as an alternative to VBG in six d epartments. Other operations were in use in six departments either alo ne (three) or as alternatives to RGB and VBG (three). Conclusions: It appears that surgical treatment of obesity is accepted and available i n the majority of academic departments of surgery.