MSG surgeon speaks on weight loss surgery at World Congress

His talk focussed on the health benefits of gastric bypass surgery for patients who are clinically obese with BMIs over 60. 

The Congress, held in conjunction with the University of Oxford from 8 to 10 September, attracted more than 900 experts, researchers and practitioners from around the world. 

Mr Van den Bossche says, ‘The gist of my talk was that bariatric metabolic surgery – the gastric bypass – is the best treatment for patients with very high BMIs when you look at long-term weight loss and complications.  

‘Super-obesity presents unique challenges: conservative measures rarely achieve sufficient weight loss, making bariatric surgery the only effective long-term therapy. Weight loss injections cannot deliver the same health benefits for these patients.  

‘In my talk I compared outcomes data for the one anastomosis gastric bypass, where the stomach is made into a small pouch and connected directly to the small intestine, so you eat less and absorb fewer calories, and the sleeve gastrectomy where most of the stomach is removed, leaving a small, sleeve-shaped stomach that makes you feel full sooner.  

‘The conclusion was that the full gastric bypass is better than sleeve gastrectomy when you look at long-term weight loss and the improvement or disappearance of related health problems. 

‘It was an honour to be asked to speak at the World Congress and also great to learn from experts around the world about how we can improve weight loss services for our patients back on the island.’