Accelerated growth of bariatric surgery with the introduction of minimally invasive surgery.

HYPOTHESIS An increase in national utilization of bariatric surgery correlates with the dissemination of laparoscopic bariatric surgery. DESIGN Evaluation of Nationwide Inpatient Sample data from 1998 through 2002. SETTING National database. PATIENTS A total of 188,599 patients underwent bariatric surgery for the treatment of morbid obesity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Annual total number of bariatric operations, the proportion of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass vs gastroplasty, the proportion of laparoscopic cases, postoperative length of stay, crude in-hospital mortality, and the number of institutions that perform bariatric surgery. RESULTS Between 1998 and 2002, the number of bariatric operations increased from 12,775 cases to 70,256 cases. The rate of bariatric surgery increased from 6.3 to 32.7 procedures per 100,000 adults. Laparoscopic bariatric surgery increased from 2.1% to 17.9%. The number of bariatric surgeons with membership in the American Society for Bariatric Surgery increased from 258 to 631, and the number of institutions that perform bariatric surgery increased from 131 to 323. During this 5-year period, the annual rate of laparoscopic bariatric surgery increased exponentially (by 44-fold) compared with a linear growth in open bariatric surgery (by 3-fold). CONCLUSIONS Between 1998 and 2002, there was a 450% increase in the number of bariatric operations performed in the United States, a 144% increase in the number of American Society for Bariatric Surgery bariatric surgeons, and a 146% increase in the number of bariatric centers. The growth of laparoscopic bariatric surgery during this 5-year period greatly exceeds that of open bariatric surgery.