The Provincial Specialist Hospital in Ciechanów has joined the group of medical facilities that perform bariatric surgeries. The first three inaugural treatments for people with stage III obesity were carried out in March this year.

Bariatric surgery is a method of treating obesity of the third degree, in which the Body Mass Index (BMI) is 40 or higher, and obesity of the second degree (BMI 35+), in which there are diseases that are complications of obesity, e.g. type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoarthritis. Currently, 4 types of bariatric surgeries are performed in Poland, namely: sleeve gastrectomy, gastric by-pass, mini gastric-bypass, and an adjustable gastric band. All these bariatric surgeries are reimbursed by the National He alth Fund.

Bariatric operations financed under contracts with the National He alth Fund are carried out by approx. 30 hospitals throughout the country. In March, they were joined by the Provincial Specialist Hospital in Ciechanów.

Since November 2022, a bariatric clinic has been operating in the hospital in Ciechanów, which prepares patients for surgical treatment of obesity. Patients of the clinic are looked after by, among others dietitian, psychologist, physiotherapists and endocrinologists and cardiologists. So far, about 30 people suffering from obesity have benefited from the clinic.

In March this year, three inaugural bariatric surgeries were performed in the hospital in Ciechanów. Two of them were made by prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Paśnik, head of the General, Oncological, Metabolic and Thoracic Surgery Clinic of the Central Teaching Hospital of the Ministry of National Defense, Military Medical Institute in Warsaw. The third was independently led by a team of surgeons from the Ciechanów facility.

- We approach the problem comprehensively, because only a holistic approach can bring the expected results. It is necessary to build awareness of the disease and correct treatment methods, both among surgeons and doctors of other speci alties, including family doctors. We are consistently expanding the hospital's offer. We have launched a bariatric clinic, and now, after surgery under the supervision of prof. Pasnik, we begin the independent implementation of metabolic surgery procedures. We decided to take this step because these treatments bring the desired effect in the 1980spercent cases, which makes them much more effective than conservative treatment - explains Paweł Gajdek, Coordinator of the Department of General Surgery at the SSzW in Ciechanów.

Read also:
Types of bariatric surgery
Techniques of bariatric surgery

The introduction of bariatric surgeries to the offer of SSzW in Ciechanów results from the growing number of obese patients requiring surgical treatment. It is estimated that in Poland there are approx. 700,000 people with 3rd degree obesity and approx. 1 million 200,000 people with 2nd degree obesity and comorbidities. Annually, we perform 2,000-3,000 bariatric surgeries.

OD-WAGA Foundation

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