BACKGROUND: The number of Canadians who self-refer for bariatric surgery outside of Canada or to private clinics within Canada remains undefined. The outcomes from this questionable practice have not been evaluated systematically to date. METHODS: We completed a chart review of known cases referred to our center for complications related to medical tourism and bariatric surgery. RESULTS: We present a series of patients who have experienced complications because of medical tourism for bariatric surgery and required urgent surgical management at a tertiary care center within Canada. Complications have resulted from 3 commonly used procedures: adjustable gastric banding, gastric sleeve resection, and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. CONCLUSIONS: Because of this review, we propose that a medical tourism approach to the surgical management of obesity-a chronic disease-is inappropriate and raises clear ethical and moral issues. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
BACKGROUND: The number of Canadians who self-refer for bariatric surgery outside of Canada or to private clinics within Canada remains undefined. The outcomes from this questionable practice have not been evaluated systematically to date. METHODS: We completed a chart review of known cases referred to our center for complications related to medical tourism and bariatric surgery. RESULTS: We present a series of patients who have experienced complications because of medical tourism for bariatric surgery and required urgent surgical management at a tertiary care center within Canada. Complications have resulted from 3 commonly used procedures: adjustable gastric banding, gastric sleeve resection, and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. CONCLUSIONS: Because of this review, we propose that a medical tourism approach to the surgical management of obesity-a chronic disease-is inappropriate and raises clear ethical and moral issues. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors: Vanessa Falk; Caroline Sheppard; Aliyah Kanji; Daniel Birch; Shazeer Karmali; Christopher de Gara Journal: Can J Surg Date: 2019-10-01 Impact factor: 2.089
Authors: Piotr K Kowalewski; Tomasz G Rogula; Ariel Ortiz Lagardere; Haris A Khwaja; Maciej S Walędziak; Michał R Janik Journal: Obes Surg Date: 2019-11 Impact factor: 4.129
Authors: Caroline E Sheppard; Erica L W Lester; Anderson W Chuck; David H Kim; Shahzeer Karmali; Christopher J de Gara; Daniel W Birch Journal: Surg Endosc Date: 2014-06-27 Impact factor: 4.584