How Much Experience Should Your Bariatric Surgeon Have?

There are a number of publications in the medical literature that show experience is positively correlated with good outcomes following bariatric operations. But what is a sufficient experience? At what point does the surgeon's experience no longer play a role in outcomes?

The minimum number of bariatric operations required for a surgeon to qualify for Center of Excellence status is 125 of any type. This 125 number could be only one type of operation. Diversity in experience is not acknowledged. NJ Bariatrics believes that, perhaps more than anything, diversity defines experience.

Diversity of experience in bariatric surgery is best defined by exposure to a wide variety of surgical procedures, both open and laparoscopic. Surprisingly, many of the younger bariatric surgeons have never performed an open operation. Likewise, many of the younger surgeons have never treated patients who had one of the early bariatric operations, e.g., vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) or jejunoileal bypass.

Would a surgeon lacking such exposure be qualified to perform revisional surgery on a patient who has had one of these older procedures? Have these surgeons dealt firsthand with the complications that are associated with these older procedures?

Dr. Robert Brolin is one of the few practicing bariatric surgeons in the United States who has cared for both VBG and jejunoileal bypass patients. He has one of the largest personal series of revisional bariatric operations in the world.

If you are contemplating a revisional operation and are looking for the most experienced surgeon available, consider Dr. Brolin. With over 30 years of operating room experience, he's quite possibly the most seasoned practicing baritric surgeon in New Jersey, as well as one of the original pioneers in the field of bariatrics.