Top 6 Risk Factors for Weight-Loss Surgery

Rachel Fields -

Researchers have identified the top six risk factors for weight-loss surgery, according to a Baltimore Sun report.

The research was presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery. The authors of the study, based out of University of California, Irvine, said one or more of the risk factors may increase the risk of dying before leaving the hospital.

The six risk factors include:

• Type of operation (gastric bypass or gastric band)
• Surgical technique (open or minimally invasive)
• Patient gender
• Type of insurance
• Age
• Presence of type 2 diabetes

The analysis was based on data from 105,287 patients who underwent weight-loss surgery between 2002 and 2009 at various medical centers around the country. Having an open operation raised the risk of death almost fivefold, as did having a gastric bypass rather than an adjustable gastric band procedure. Men were at three times the risk of women, and patients with Medicare coverage were also at increased risk. The risk doubled in people 60 or older and increased by 50 percent in people with type 2 diabetes.

Read the Baltimore Sun report on weight-loss surgery.

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