[MUSIC PLAYING]

Why Choose Mayo Clinic

Bariatric Surgery

Omar Ghanem, M.D., metabolic surgeon: Weight loss surgery is an excellent treatment for obesity.

Todd A. Kellogg, M.D., metabolic surgeon: Everybody is an individual. All patients have slightly different needs, and having that ability to provide different types of treatments really refines the care for the obese patient.

Dr. Ghanem: The management of obesity requires a multidisciplinary approach. There is the patient, there is the endocrinologist, there is the dietitian or nutritionist, there is the psychology part, and there is the surgeon. While there are other modes for weight loss, we know by far that bariatric surgery is one of the safest and one of the most effective for that.

Dr. Kellogg: So the multidisciplinary effort really focuses in first on the co-morbid diseases and making sure they're in check like hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or type 2 diabetes, maybe cardiac disease -- and then moves towards the surgery and making sure that it's safe for that particular individual after their co-morbid diseases have been stabilized.

Dr. Ghanem: What we have here at Mayo Clinic that might be different from a lot of other places is that the patient is seeing the top of providers in the field at each one of these stations. What the surgeons do during bariatric procedure is give patients a tool, and the patient has to use that tool correctly and adequately for them to lose weight and to keep that weight off.

[MUSIC PLAYING]