A critical review of a personal series of 1000 gastroplasties.

INTRODUCTION: In a world suffering from famine, it is paradoxical to find in Belgium and in most Western countries a marked tendency to obesity. A recent study has revealed that one Belgian out of five is overweight. The literature has provided evidence that behaviour modification or dietary therapy do not result in long term weight loss for severe obese. As a result, more and more obese people are treated by surgery and we present here our personal experience of bariatric surgery during the last eight years. All the surgical procedures have been performed by a single surgeon as part of a multidisciplinary approach that also involves internists, dieticians, psychiatrists and basic scientists.