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From the Knife to the Endoscope—a History of Bariatric Surgery

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review was conducted to gain insight into the history, present and future of bariatric and/or metabolic surgery and endoscopic treatments of obesity. The challenges that have been overcome, the challenges we still face and our recommendations for the future are discussed.

Recent Findings

Over the last few decades, a number of treatment strategies have emerged for the treatment of obesity. Both endoscopic and surgical options are available and they lead to significant weight loss and comorbidity reduction. However, to remain a credible treatment alternative to the obesity pandemic, we need to perform these procedures in much larger numbers than we currently do. Even though significant gains have been made in reducing the morbidity and mortality of surgical interventions, there is further room for improvement, especially when it comes to long-term issues. Due to its impact on almost every single organ system in the human body, bariatric surgery has attracted the attention of academics from a variety of medical disciplines. This has led to a rapidly enlarging body of high-quality scientific literature, supporting its wider use and cost-effectiveness.

Conclusion

Despite the advances made in bariatric surgery, the criteria determining suitability of patients for bariatric surgery in most parts of the world are still based on a consensus agreed upon in the USA in 1991. There is a need to formulate some new consensus and guidelines that would allow for a significant expansion of the pool of patients that can be offered these procedures.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Praeclarum, Obesity Treatment, Oosterbeek, The Netherlands

    Edo O. Aarts

  2. Bariatric Unit, Department of General Surgery, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, UK

    Kamal Mahawar

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK

    Kamal Mahawar

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  1. Edo O. Aarts
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  2. Kamal Mahawar
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Correspondence to Edo O. Aarts or Kamal Mahawar.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Aarts has no conflicts of interest to disclose. Dr. Mahawar has been paid honoraria by Medtronic ®, Ethicon ®, Gore ®, Olympus ®, and various NHS Trusts in the United Kingdom for educational activities.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on The Obesity Epidemic: Causes and Consequences

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Aarts, E.O., Mahawar, K. From the Knife to the Endoscope—a History of Bariatric Surgery. Curr Obes Rep 9, 348–363 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-020-00382-1

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