ABSTRACT
The growth of morbid obesity in the United States has now reached epidemic proportions. Recent estimates suggest that 365,000 deaths per year in the United States may be attributed to poor diet and physical inactivity (1). This epidemic has resulted in the geometric growth of bariatric surgery nationwide. Prior to 1996, American surgeons performed a total of 16,000 to 20,000 bariatric operations each year (2). The American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS) estimates that over 100,000 such procedures were performed in the United States in 2003. Of these operations, more than half were laparoscopic.
