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. 2022 Jul;32(7):2407-2416.
doi: 10.1007/s11695-022-06095-9. Epub 2022 May 3.

Management of Complications After Bariatric Surgery: a Survey of Comfort and Educational Needs of General Surgeons in Ontario, Canada

Meredith Poole  1 , Laurie Fasola  2 , Boris Zevin  3
Affiliations

Management of Complications After Bariatric Surgery: a Survey of Comfort and Educational Needs of General Surgeons in Ontario, Canada

Meredith Poole et al. Obes Surg. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: Approximately 10% of patients develop complications after bariatric surgery. These patients often present to their local general surgeon rather than the hospital where the primary bariatric operation was performed. The objective of this study was to conduct a survey of general surgeons in Ontario, Canada, to explore their confidence and educational needs regarding management of surgical complications post-bariatric surgery.

Materials and methods: A 40-item survey was created and piloted with community and academic general surgeons. It was disseminated by mail in August 2020 to general surgeons in Ontario who take acute care surgery call. Bariatric surgeons and surgeons who do not take acute care surgery call were excluded.

Results: A total of 138/715 (19.3%) eligible surgeons completed the survey. Of the respondents, 63/112 (54.3%) had no exposure to bariatric surgery during residency or fellowship. A total of 72/108 (66.7%) respondents agreed that management of complications after bariatric surgery should be within the skillset of a general surgeon; however, 28/108 (25.9%) were not confident managing these complications. Seventy-one of 108 (65.7%) respondents were interested in additional continuing professional development (CPD) resources regarding management of these complications. Hands-on workshops, online resources, and live webinars were the most preferred educational formats for such CPD resources, with 67.1% of participants willing to commit 1-3 h and 42.9% willing to pay >$100 for such CPD resources.

Conclusions: One-quarter of general surgeons in Ontario, Canada, were not comfortable managing complications after bariatric surgery; however, the majority of surgeons were interested in additional CPD resources on this topic.

Keywords: Bariatric surgery; Continuing professional development; Management of complications; Survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Respondents self-reported level of comfort in diagnosis and managing complications after bariatric surgery. Data reported as percentages (n = 108) based on Likert scale responses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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