Reference: Medscape
In a new statement, two metabolic and bariatric surgery societies recommend expanding eligibility for bariatric surgery to include individuals with a body mass index (BMI) lower than the current threshold, among other updates.
The statement recommends that the threshold for metabolic and bariatric surgery should be a BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2, regardless of comorbidities.
In contrast, providers, hospitals, and insurers currently use BMI thresholds of ≥ 40 kg/m2, or ≥ 35 kg/m2 with an obesity-related comorbidity (such as hypertension or heart disease), to define patients eligible for metabolic and bariatric surgery based on criteria established in a 1991 consensus statement by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A joint statement issued today by the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) updates the indications for surgery to reflect the progress in the field over the past 30 years.
“In light of significant advances in the understanding of the disease of obesity, its management in general, and metabolic and bariatric surgery specifically,” leaders of the ASMBS and IFSO, which represents 72 national societies, “convened to produce this joint statement on the current available scientific information on metabolic and bariatric surgery and its indications,” the document authors write.
The statement was presented today at the International Congress on Obesity (ICO) 2022 in Melbourne, Australia, and simultaneously published online in the journals Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases and Obesity Surgery.
‘Long Overdue,’ ‘Time to Remove Barriers’
This reset in the threshold for eligibility for metabolic and bariatric surgery is long overdue, according to the presidents of the ASMBS and IFSO.
“The 1991 NIH consensus statement on bariatric surgery served a valuable purpose for a time, but after more than three decades and hundreds of high-quality studies, including randomized clinical trials, it no longer reflects best practices and lacks relevance to today’s modern-day procedures and population of patients,” Teresa LaMasters, MD, president, ASMBS said in a press release.
“It’s time for a change in thinking and in practice for the sake of patients. It is long overdue,” she noted.
“The ASMBS/IFSO guidelines provide an important reset when it comes to the treatment of obesity,” added Scott Shikora, MD, president, IFSO.
