According to the World Health Organization (WHO), bariatric surgery is considered to be the only effective treatment against morbid obesity. Quebecers who are suffering need to have access to the necessary treatment to ensure their survival!


The different techniques

The surgical treatment of morbid obesity is based on two principles: restriction (volume reduction) and malabsorption (derivation).

Bariatric surgery currently comprises a range of techniques that are classified into two main types of procedures:

• gastric-restriction techniques, which reduces food intake by diminishing gastric capacity (gastroplasty - figure 1 and gastric banding - figure 2 );
  
• hybrid techniques, which combine gastric restriction, with the principle of intestinal malabsorption through the creation of a bypass or derivation system (gastric bypass techniques - figures 3 and 4 and biliopancreatic diversion - figures 5 and 6).
  

Credit : Agence d'évaluation des technologies et des modes d'intervention en santé (AETMIS).

For additional details relating to the different surgical techniques, consult the Agence d'évaluation des technologies et des modes d'intervention en santé (AETMIS) report entitled "Le traitement chirurgical de l'obésité morbide : mise à jour" (The surgical treatment of morbid obesity: An update) at the following address: http://www.aetmis.gouv.qc.ca/site/en_publications_2005.phtml.

Hospitals and surgeons

More than 300,000 Quebecers are morbidly obese but only a few hundred bariatric surgeries are performed each year. The waiting lists are endless: This is unacceptable!

The following Québec hospitals offered bariatric surgery. (Click here)