Morbid and not for the faint hearted but...

[phatmomma]

Hi if you're due for surgery you may want to turn away now... But following a conversation i had today i was wondering if anyone had reliable stats re the morbidity rate following bypass surgery?

Someone said 19% but i think thats either a very old stat or just completely misinterpreted. I mean 19% is 19 in every 100 and that is definitely not quite right.

Please feel free to put me right folks, i know some of you know the answers xxx

 

[BlueDiamond]

Hi .

I was informed its 1 in 200 deaths for wls .............

All the best - MeJulie x x

 

[phatmomma]

Yup MeJulie thats what thisJulie heard too....

Have a good evening xx

Scrap that, have a good year xx

 

[dreamofbeingslim]

When I went to the hospital at the beginning of dec I was told 1 in300 but that is 300 high risk patients and apparently I don't come under that criteria. I try not to think about it too much but 1 in 300 is not bad I don't think when its people of my size under anaesthetic.

 

[gaelic girl]

can't help much as i only took the stats for my surgeon but he had one death in 900 ops and that was down to a pre exsisting medical condition x

 

[DanR]

Hi Julie,

1 in 200 is the figure that I was given prior to my recent bypass and the consultant told me that this was the national average, however depending upon other risk factors and the experience of the surgical team this can differ (i.e. more or less risk). The consultant also told me that his team had experienced a single fatality out of a large number of procedures (can't remember the figure) and this was due to a pre-existing medical condition.

BOSPA also state that "statistics show the death rate associated with gastric bypass surgery to be about 1 in 200 operations" (BOSPA - The British Obesity Surgery Patient Association), although they don't give a source for that statistic.

All the best

Dan

 

[tesmaralda]

the stats dr hratland gave me for walsall manor was 2 in 500 and they all had prexisiting health problems. Bariatric surgery is different to any other surgery because if death occurs with in 12 months after surgery(3months with any other type) it is attributed to the surgery. He said one was the same day and the other was several months later. Neither have been during the op.

When you back ask him what the hospitals mortality and failure rates are. He won't mind I did lol

 

[fatbutnot4long]

i was told 1 in 100 ppl with the bypass and 1 in 300 with the band xx

 

[rybens]

i was told the same as kirsty x

 

[BlueDiamond]

ty phatmomma x x u have a gr8 2010 too x x

 

[Cuppacocoa]

I also believe the national average is 1 in 200. My surgeon has had two fatalities in over 400 ops, these were both due to complications with patients after surgery. I asked him way too many questions about the exact cause of these deaths before my op and then wished I hadn't!!

Cuppa xx

 

[rybens]

How long after the surgery did they die cuppa?

 

[fatbutnot4eva]

I think (THINK) My surgeon Mr Ammori said 1 in 500 but not too sure trying not to think about it too much x

 

[phatmomma]

Thanks, either way 19% is way off base...

Oh yes, forgot to say i'm not planning on popping off following surgery! I am invincible.... or at least i think i am xx

 

[rybens]

of course you are julie x roll on that op date x

 

[Cuppacocoa]

How long after the surgery did they die cuppa?

One of them had to be reoperated on but had complications and didn't make it through the second op. I can't remember what he said about the other but I know it wasn't directly linked to the weightloss surgery. I think I tried hard to forget if I'm honest.

One has to remember that our surgeons operate on some very high risk patients, much, much higher risk than ourselves and many have underlying medical problems that may increase the chances of complications with their surgery. Nothing is fail proof but it's nice to know the VAST majority of patients do extremely well with no problems whatsoever.

Another thing to note is that my anaesthatist mentioned that a larger person is no more at risk of complications from the anasthaesia than a normal weight person. Her words were 'the chances of anything going wrong with the anaesthetic are one in a million'.

They do their jobs day in day out and I know I had absolute faith in my wls team.

Cuppa xx

 

[Bullyfun]

so if my surgeon has done 199 on wednesday with no problems i tell him to take a running jump right ????
got it cool

 

[purpleprincess29]

Good thread...one of those things I'm sure we all are/have been thinking/thought about in relation to the surgery.

When I saw Dr Hartland and Walsall Manor he said that he considered for me personally the Bypass wouldn't be any more of a risk than the band in his opinion. Which is partly what made me decide to go for the Bypass over the band.

I keep thinking about there being risks but I am a bit of a geek for statistics and found this webpage which lists the main causes of death in 2008 and at the top is Circulatory Disease with almost 170,000 people dying from it which is essentially heart disease :heartpump:.

Whilst at present I don't have heart disease, with my excess weight and family history of heart problems I believe statistically my own risks are higher by not having the surgery.

It's still scary, but it at least gives me some reassurance and confidence that all will be okay.

 

[Silversurfer]

Ok whilst we are all scaring ourselves here about this, you have to remember that stats are only any good when compared to something else, for instance out of 100% of people that have a cancer op how many will die post, during or within a year of the op, the same example can be used for any operation including cosmetic surgery !

You also have to remember that the official statistics are worked out against a broad range of people with different levels of obesity, therefore its more likely that a surgeon operating on US paitents weighing 60 stone plus is more likely to lose a paitent than a UK surgeon operating on average 20-25 stone paitents ! the lower weight paitents are less likely to have heart problems or post operative issues, but the stats do not reflect this.

 

[Meggie]

I remember this coming up a while back, and there was something about how the stats are defined. For example, if you have your op and within a month die of something (e.g. getting hit by a bus) it is still counted as a death caused by WLS. Not sure if all the stats mentioned by everyone above were calculated in the same way but might be worth bearing in mind!!!

This is something that is HEAVILY on my mind at the moment. I'm sure it's normal to think about this when you op is coming up though, right?!!?