What we know and what we don’t know about bariatric surgery

Obesity is an increasing health problem in the UK. Current national guidelines recommend that surgery is considered for people with severe and complex obesity. This surgery is known as bariatric surgery. Three of the most common types of bariatric surgery operations are: the adjustable gastric band (‘Band’), the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (‘Bypass’), and the gastric sleeve (‘Sleeve’). At the moment, health professionals do not know which of these three operations is the most effective for long-term weight loss and improvement of health problems and quality of life.