Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery is performed over 140,000 per year. The procedure is complex and costly yet that does not stop people from using the surgery to lose weight. The average cost for gastric bypass ranging between $18,000 and $35,000. The average cost for lap band surgery ranges between $17,000 and $30,000.

The high costs are related of the bariatric surgery are for the pre operation lab work, X-ray fees, anesthesia, surgeon’s fee, and hospital costs. Depending on the extent of the surgery and the length of the recovery of the surgery, the fees vary. Additional costs for any post operational procedures include dietary plans, behavioral coaching and education, nutritional supplements, fitness regimens, and body contouring to remove the excess skin from the drastic weight loss. The typical body that experiences such a drastic weight loss will experience sagging skin and requires the body lift to improve the loose muscles and fat deposits. It is important to remember there are various types of bariatric surgery that will entail numerous variables and recovery of each individual patient that will create the escalated costs of surgery.

Gastric banding costs include the hospital stay, surgeon fee, pre surgery lab work, X-ray fees, and appointments leading up to the surgery for the first year of the surgery. The post surgical fees are additional that  include behavioral counseling, exercise regimens, and diet counseling as well as follow visits for the first year. Body contouring surgery is additional and very costly. Gastric sleeve surgery, duodenal switch surgery, and gastric bypass all share the same type of costs for each procedure with the additional variables affecting the overall price.

It is important to remember the possible costs associated with the bariatric surgery and the post surgical procedures that may also include face lifts, beast augmentations, breast lifts, liposuction, and adbominoplasty. These procedures are often performed two years after the original surgery but are still important considerations for related costs.
When a person is obese and loses weight, they will have large amounts of excess skin. The more skin there is that hangs or sags, the higher costs of the post surgical procedures is higher based on the amounts of skin to be removed surgically.