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UT Southwestern Medical Center’s laparoscopic surgery and open gastric bypass surgery specialists provide the thoughtful assistance our patients need in deciding whether weight-loss surgery is the right approach for treating obesity. Our physicians in the Clinical Center for the Management of Obesity thoroughly discuss with patients the benefits and potential risks of surgery.

Numerous research institutions have defined obesity as being more than 125 percent over ideal body weight. Patients with severe or morbid obesity are 200 percent or 100 pounds over ideal body weight.

With rare exception, our surgeons adhere strictly to the National Institutes of Health guidelines regarding weight requirements for gastric bypass surgery. Candidates for weight-loss surgery should have a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40, or greater than 35 when the patient has associated high-risk complications. The BMI is a better indicator of obesity than body weight and is measured by dividing an individual’s weight by the square of their height.

Candidates for laparoscopic surgery should weigh less than 325 to 350 pounds, depending on weight distribution, and should not have had extensive abdominal surgery. Appendectomy, Caesarean section, gallbladder removal and hysterectomy incisions do not usually prevent a patient from having laparoscopic surgery.

An information session discussing three weight-loss programs offered by UT Southwestern — The Liquid Protein Diet, Medical Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery — will be held Thursdays at 5:45 p.m. twice per month starting Sept. 13, 2007 at UT Southwestern University Hospital - Zale Lipshy. Patients must attend one session before making an appointment with a surgeon. Anyone who cannot attend or would like more information, should call 214-645-2900.