ABSTRACT
Obesity has become a national epidemic in the U.S. The age-adjusted prevalence of overweight adults has increased from 55.9%, according to reports in 1988 to 1994, to 64.5%, according to reports from 1999 to 2000. More strikingly, the prevalence of extreme obesity has increased from 2.9 to 4.7% in the same period [1]. The health consequences of obesity are staggering. Not only is the risk of premature death increased twofold in the morbidly obese, but obesity is associated with an increased rate of multiple serious medical conditions, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes
Surgical treatment of morbid obesity is not a new concept; however, a recent increase in the number of individuals pursuing this treatment can be attributed to a combination of media attention, development of laparoscopic procedures, extreme obesity, and failure of nonoperative traditional treatments in the superobese, among other factors. The number of bariatric surgical procedures performed annually has increased from 16,000 in the early 1990s to approximately 103,000 in 2003 [3].
