Bariatric surgery abroad can incur costs at home

Canadians are increasingly seeking stomach-shrinking surgery outside the country and those who come back with complications are costing the public health care system millions of dollars, according to a recent study.

One in five Canadians is obese. Where strategies like a change in diet, weight loss programs and medical therapy have failed, bariatric surgery can be effective in reducting a patient’s weight and treating diabetes.

Hard to get surgery in Canada

But only one per cent of eligible patients are offered this surgery because that’s all the health care system can handle. And the average wait time is five years.

Alternatively, Canadians can go outside the public system and get the surgery privately in Canada but it is expensive. So, some people respond to advertising which offers cheaper rates in countries like Mexico.

Complications ‘like a puzzle’

When patients return, some suffer complications and turn to surgeons in the public health care system for treatment. “We don’t necessarily have their operative report,” says Dr. Shahzeer Karmali, a co-author of the study and associate professor of surgery at the University of Alberta.

“We are not the individuals who performed the original surgery. So, we’re not really sure what happened, what exactly was done so it’s like we’re building the puzzle again.”

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Complications range from mild dehydration to leaks causing infection which can be fatal.

Improve access to surgery in Canada, recommends doctor

The study estimates repairs cost the province of Alberta alone more than $560,000 for 59 bariatric medical tourists treated between 2012 and 2013. And that did not include the cost of related expenses like hospital stays, nursing and psychological services.

Karmali concludes that health authorities should improve access to bariatric surgery at home, reduce wait times and to inform patients of the risks of having surgery abroad that surgeons at home “may not know how to fix.”