17.3% of surgeons in Israel do not lose weight • The reason: they are not under dietitian or complementary medical treatment • Expert: "Surgery alone is not enough"

• The number of gastric bypass surgeries has dropped drastically in the last 5 years // Illustration photo: GettyImages

The number of gastric bypass surgeries is declining: 7,500 surgeries were performed in 2019 and this is the lowest number in the five years since the Ministry of Health began collecting data on the popular surgery.

In the years 2015-2014, more than 9,000 surgeries were performed per year, in 2016 8,321 were performed, in 2017 there were 8,017 surgeries and in 2018 7,621 surgeries were performed.

The rate of repeat surgeries for surgeons who failed to lose weight continues to be high in Israel and stands at 17.3% (1,300 surgeries). This is after the State Comptroller examined the issue in a report two years ago and noted that this is an unusual and high rate compared to about 7% of repeat surgeries worldwide.

One of the possible reasons for this, according to data from the Ministry of Health - only half of them come to a dietitian for consultation in the year after the operation.

The data also show that there is a reversal in the types of surgeries performed: gastric bypass surgery rose to 56.1% of all surgeries (compared to 45% in 2017) and the popularity of sleeve surgery dropped from 44% in 2018 to 27%.

The State Comptroller further remarked that gastric bypass surgeries are performed in Israel at a high rate and disproportionately compared to other surgeries and in relation to the countries of the world.

How much will you lose weight if you have surgery? In the years 2018-2013, there was a decrease of 79.9% in the excess weight among sleeve surgeons and 85% in the excess weight in gastric bypass surgery with two launches.

The data collected at the National Center for Disease Control at the Ministry of Health also show that the average age of the patients was 40, and that the vast majority of the patients were women (74.5%). 

81% of the patients had one or more background diseases associated with obesity: 64.4% of the patients suffered from fatty liver, 24.2% suffered from hyperlipidemia, one fifth suffered from hypertension, 18% suffered from orthopedic problems related to obesity, 16.6% suffered from diabetes. This is a popular surgery but not without complications: the complication rate in surgery was about 2.9%.

There is no "magic solution"

Dr. Raz Hagoel, a specialist doctor and director of the Medical Center for the Treatment of Obesity, says that "gastric bypass surgery is not a 'magic solution', and in most cases the surgery alone is not effective enough to treat obesity in the long run. Various studies have shown that about a year after surgery most patients who have undergone the procedure significantly reduce their weight. At the same time, there is sometimes weight gain because many surgeons are not under follow-up and complementary medical treatment. "