Bariatric Surgery: Improving Access without Compromising Outcomes
- 08.09.2025
- Research
Erschienen in:
- Verfasst von
- Justine O Chinn
- Sebastiano Bartoletti
- Jason X Shen
- Kayla R Kulhanek
- Mark Shacker
- Yulia Zak
- Dan E Azagury
- Micaela M Esquivel
- Erschienen in
- Obesity Surgery | Ausgabe 10/2025
Abstract
Background
Bariatric surgery pre-operative workup mandates many multidisciplinary visits demanding patient’s commitment in time and travel. Due to the COVID pandemic, our bariatric clinic transitioned to a telemedicine model. The objective of this work is to determine the impact of this shift.
Methods
Our population is adults who underwent gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy at a single hospital between 2018 and 2022. We analyzed the impact of telemedicine on demographics, days from consultation to surgery, length of hospital stay, type of procedures, BMI, and complications. Statistical analyses were conducted using χ2 tests for categorical variables and t-test for continuous variables as well as logistic regression.
Results
Of 794 patients, 71.3% received in-person care while 28.7% received telemedicine. There were no differences in race, ethnicity, or gender. The average duration from consultation to surgery was longer (p < 0.001) for in-person (551.1 days) compared to telemedicine (375.8 days). The pre-operative BMI was higher for the in-person cohort versus telemedicine (45.5; SD 8.0 vs. 43.9; SD 6.7; p < 0.001), but there was no difference in percent weight loss at 12 months. The average length of stay was longer in the in-person group compared to telemedicine (1.9 vs 1.2 days). There was no difference in readmission or emergency department visit rates.
Conclusion
Despite being the best treatment for severe obesity, bariatric surgery remains underutilized. When comparing telemedicine to an in-person model, we found shorter time to surgery, shorter length of stay, and similar outcomes with no difference in weight loss or complications. Telemedicine may be a safe and useful way to improve access.
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- Titel
- Bariatric Surgery: Improving Access without Compromising Outcomes
- Verfasst von
-
Justine O Chinn
Sebastiano Bartoletti
Jason X Shen
Kayla R Kulhanek
Mark Shacker
Yulia Zak
Dan E Azagury
Micaela M Esquivel
- Publikationsdatum
- 08.09.2025
- Verlag
- Springer US
- Erschienen in
-
Obesity Surgery / Ausgabe 10/2025
Print ISSN: 0960-8923
Elektronische ISSN: 1708-0428 - DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-025-08222-8
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