Most doctors have specific requirements before they will approve a patient for bariatric surgery. In short, they need as much information as possible to determine if you are healthy enough for surgery. They are considering any risk factors you have that could compromise your health as well as how likely it is for the procedure to work.
Numerous tests are done before bariatric surgery to assess these needs.
What Tests Can I Expect?
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Blood tests to gage overall health and look for nutrient deficiencies
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A sleep study will be conducted to verify if you are struggling with sleep apnea and how that could impact your ability to breathe during the procedure.
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GI evaluation is done to ensure your gastrointestinal system is healthy enough without significant structural concerns that could limit the success of the procedure.
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Ultrasounds to consider the health of the GI system as well as to look at the health of your liver, gallbladder, and pancreas
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Pulmonary function testing to determine how capable your lungs are and if there are any potential complications related to it
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Chest X-rays to look at the overall size and health of your heart and the structure of your anatomy in general.
In most situations, studies show that these types of preoperative assessment and preparation steps save lives, and they help doctors choose the best type of bariatric surgery for your specific needs. Various factors play a role in that decision, but most of the time, these tests can shed light on whether or not you are a good fit for weight loss surgery.
If you have any questions or concerns about any of the tests that you will need to go through or what they are for, ask your doctor for clarification. The more information you have, the more confident you can be about this procedure.
Can I Opt Out of Testing?
While some patients may wish to opt out of the testing process for a variety of reasons, any reputable doctor should refuse to operate without performing these tests, as they are there to ensure the safety of the patient. Performing surgery without these tests would be putting the patient in serious risk.
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