An Interdisciplinary Team Approach to Bariatric Surgery Evaluation for High-Risk Candidates

Introduction: National guidelines recommend a multi-disciplinary approach to determine surgical candidacy for patients seeking bariatric surgery. Here, we describe an interdisciplinary team (IDT) approach to evaluating surgical candidacy for bariatric patients who may be at high risk.Methods: We reviewed the clinical records to identify patients 18 years or older who were deemed "high risk" for bariatric surgery and subsequently referred to the IDT for evaluation over a 5 year period. We compared those who did and did not progress to surgery on demographics and pre-established risk factors, and we calculated weight change up to 3 years post-surgery, when available.Results: A total of 515 patients were evaluated by the IDT during the study period. The top 3 risk factors were psychological (n = 318), dietetic (n = 177), and medical (n = 131). After IDT intervention, 136 patients advanced to surgery. The odds of surgical advancement did not differ according to age, gender, or number of risk factors present. Of those who advanced to surgery, % total body weight loss at years 1 and 3 was 23.0% & PLUSMN; 11.8% and 22.3% & PLUSMN; 13.5%, respectively.Conclusions: IDT may be a promising approach to facilitate bariatric surgery for high-risk patients.