To be a candidate to undergo bariatric surgery you have to meet certain criteria, that  is because we want to make sure you can take advantage of the benefits these procedures cause in our patients, and also, that these benefits outweigh the risks of the undergoing certain type of bariatric procedure. The Nation Institute for Health released these criteria on 1991,[1]. and since then this has been the standard to which every patient seeking this treatment must meet. Nowadays bariatric surgery has evolved into a very safe branch of surgery. All lessons from the past have been learned and a new subspecialty of general surgery has emerged on the other side, along the way, we have learned that if we choose our patients correctly following these criteria, and if we prepare them for the surgery we ensure a good outcome, not only for the procedure itself but to enjoy weight loss surgery’s proven results on the long term.  These are the criteria:

1.- All persons with a body mass index over 40

2.- Body mass index between 35 and 39.9 with an obesity related disease (example: diabetes high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, sleep apnea).

3.- Age between 18 – 65.

There are certain aspects we have to evaluate when confronting patients who are not eligible by this criteria, every surgeon has the ability to choose and approve patients who would otherwise not meet all of this criteria but also could benefit from the surgery with low operative risks. That is why a complete and personal evaluation is required in every patient, to individualize and modify preoperative evaluation, and process accordingly.

Dr. Galileo Villarreal

Bariatric Surgeon