subject: Oklahoma Bariatric Surgery Could Save State Millions In Healthcare Costs [print this page] The State of Oklahoma spends an estimated $854 million dollars every year in healthcare costs directly related to obesity, a recent study suggests. The study, published in the Health Affairs journal, estimated that obesity-related healthcare costs will continue to grow, leading many health experts to recommend a number of different surgical options for obese individuals. Government agencies are beginning to take notice of these recommendations as state spending on healthcare related to obese individuals continues to rise.
For residents of Oklahoma, bariatric surgery is becoming more and more common. With the countrys 7th highest rate of obesity, just behind Louisiana and Kentucky, Oklahoma is seeing a serious and negative impact from the obesity of its residents. Doctors are becoming more and more likely to recommend surgical options to their patients, educating the public on surgical options to combat the startling growths rate of obesity.
While gastric bypass surgery continues to be the most popular in Oklahoma, doctors want patients to be educated on a number of different surgical options. With the gastric sleeve or sleeve gastrectomy, Oklahoma residents have found impressive results in the total percentage of weight lost within one year of the procedure. Considered a restrictive surgery, the gastric sleeve reduces the size of the stomach by 60%-80%, decreasing the amount of food than can be consumed and increasing the patients feeling of fullness. With a gastric sleeve, most patients will lose around 70% percent of their excess weight within two years of the surgery.
Another recommended procedure is the insertion of a laparoscopic adjustable gastric band, more commonly known as a lap band. Lap band, Oklahoma City residents second most requested procedure, is similar to the gastric sleeve surgery, in that it restricts the amount of food that a patient can consume. However, unlike the gastric sleeve procedure, lap band surgery involves the insertion of a plastic tie around the upper part of the stomach and is both adjustable and reversible. Patients who undergo the lap band procedure are required to make monthly visits to their doctor for two years following their surgery and will have to have the band checked and adjusted once a year after that. For these reason, doctors advise patients that this procedure requires the greatest amount of personal commitment.
With a number of different surgical options available, most of them minimally invasive and requiring only a few days or less spent in a hospital, Oklahoma residents, along with the rest of the country, are beginning to look towards bariatric surgery to combat the obesity epidemic. As the cost of obesity, both to the state and the individual, continues to skyrocket, doctors are hoping that educating their overweight patients can help stem the tide of this growing problem.
