Bariatric surgery is an elective procedure, what that means is that we choose to operate under the best possible conditions, that is why if during the preoperative evaluation we encounter any factor that can be modified in order to have a better outcome, is in this part  of the protocol that we modify that; preparation is about getting the patient in their best shape possible, as an athlete would prepare for a marathon. For example, patients with super super obesity (BMI >60) we can lower their bmi and help their pulmonary status, in patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure or diabetes modification of their medications and/or doses until corrects the problem, etc.

Routinely preoperative diet is given to all patients undergoing bariatric surgery, what the diet does, is to reduce liver size, so access and visualization of the upper part of the stomach is done easily, also, this diet gives the liver a different consistency which makes  it easier to manipulate and diminishes the risk of bleeding during surgery.

This preparation takes from one to four weeks, depending on the patient body mass index, one week for patients with bmi 35-50 two weeks patients of  50-60 bmi, three weeks for patients with vmi  50-60 and four weeks for patients over 70 bmi.

Dr.Galileo Villarreal

Bariatric Surgeon