My Talks At The 2015 Minimally Invasive Surgery Symposium

This week I will be giving a  key note address on the use of the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (and the shortcomings of BMI) at the 2015 Minimally Invasive Surgery Symposium (MISS) in Las Vegas.

Without doubt, minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery has revolutionised bariatric surgery – what was once a messy, life-threatening operation is now an elegant procedure, which usually has patients up and about the next day.

But are the BMI-based indications for bariatric surgery still the best way to go? Not when we have better systems like the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) to determine how “sick” someone is rather than just how “big”.

This morning, in a separate presentation, I will also be providing an extensive overview on the efficacy and safety of the modern anti-obesity medications that have recently become available in the US.

While these medications may still not help patients achieve or maintain quite the degree of weight loss seen with surgery, they are certainly viable treatment options for individuals with less severe obesity or those unwilling or unable to undergo surgery.

Although evidence for this is still scarce, these medications may well also come to play a role in helping prevent the weight gain that some patients experience after surgery.

If nothing else, minimally invasive bariatric surgeons should certainly be aware of the available medical treatments as they counsel their patients about the pros and cons of surgery.

@DrSharma
Las Vegas, NV