Exclusions for weight loss surgery

There are people who for a variety of reasons are not suitable for obesity surgery. When deciding upon suitability your health comes first and your surgeon will consider the risks posed by excessive weight gain against the surgery. If the surgery is likely to endanger your health or the long term health risks outweigh the benefits then you will not be considered.

There are a list of ‘contra-indications’ to surgery which may mean that you are not suitable for surgery. If any of the following items apply to you it does not mean that you are disqualified from surgery: just that you are in a higher risk category than someone else.

These are as follows:

• Drug and/or alcohol addiction.
• Age under 16 or over 75.
• History of heart disease or severe lung problems. These can put you at increased risk during anaesthesia.
• Chronic pancreatitis (or have a history of this).
• Cirrhosis of the liver.
• Autoimmune disease such as systemic lupus erthyematosus.
• Blood disorder which increases your risk of heavy bleeding.
• History of severe psychiatric illness.

However, there are four items in this list which if they apply to you mean that you are not suitable for obesity surgery. They are:

• Receiving cancer treatment (e.g. chemotherapy).
• Suffer from Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis (these are inflammatory bowel diseases).
• Pregnancy.

Have a pre-existing condition which causes bleeding in the stomach or oesophagus (windpipe).