Hello Doctor,

I'm evaluating a potential surgeon in the US. I have checked for # of vsgs performed (over 300), # years experience, professional affiliations and anything else I could think of. Are there other criteria I should be looking for? This surgeon seems less expensive than others. Should this be a red flag?

Thanks for any guidance on this matter. It is a tough and important choice.

Lisa

I'm not the doctor, but I'll chime in: leak rate and infection rate. Overall complication rate (complications happen, but a good surgeon should have a lower complication rate).

Ouroborous:

Yes I agree, but where do I get that data? Sure I can ask the surgeon, but how can I be confident of their answer? Wouldn't a potentially unscrupulous surgeon be inclined to give me a favorable report? Is there any place I can get this info besides from the surgeon?

Great question. You may pay a small fee by checking online resources that generate reports on doctors for any medical malpractice lawsuits and other stats, etc. Maybe you can call a law firm that handles med malpractice cases and get advise on how to do your own investigation. I agree with you in getting the facts from sources outside of the surgeon practice and affiliation. Hopefully someone here can chime in with some resources you can use. If you do come up with a method of getting the facts on a surgeon please post it so we all can learn from your research. I'm thinking of plastic surgery down the line and I want to be very sure of the surgeon I use before I have anything done.

Good question that actually pertains to all surgery. It is also a tough question to answer well. Worldwide there are probably less than 40 surgeons who have done over 300 sleeve gastrectomies or have done them for more than 5 years. Your best approach would be to directly ask the surgeon how many they have done, for how many years, how big is the pouch and how many leaks. There is probably no one best website that can accurately describe a surgeons experience or outcomes.