Bariatric Surgery Program at AIIMS:

Obesity is a major public health problem in India which is already known for the high prevalence of diabetes. Thus Diabesity (Obesity + Diabetes) requires concerted efforts for treatment. Besides diabetes, patients with severe obesity commonly have other related diseases like high blood pressure, deranged lipid profile, PCOD, Fatty liver (NAFLD), osteoarthritis, gastro-oesophageal reflux, obstructive sleep apnea and poor quality of life. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for such patients that provides long term weight loss and resolution/improvement of these obesity related diseases.

A specialised bariatric surgery program has been in operation at AIIMS since 2008 with the objective to provide high quality, safe and affordable surgical treatment for weight loss to patients with severe obesity. Prof. Aggarwal is considered as one of the pioneers of bariatric surgery in India and is vastly experienced in this field. More than 1000 surgeries have been conducted at AIIMS with excellent results. AIIMS, New Delhi is also one of the few centres in the country where high quality research in bariatric surgery is conducted. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1bu6cqctzJLkT/bibliography/42715046/public/?sort=date&direction=descending)

The decision of undergoing bariatric surgery is often a difficult one for patients and their relatives. In the Bariatric Surgery Clinic, a specialised team of doctors and dietician offer detailed explanation of the various treatment options for weight loss including bariatric surgery procedures and their pros and cons. This specialty clinic provides an opportunity for the patients to clarify all their doubts and reach an informed decision An experienced Program Coordinator is also present to facilitate further evaluation and consultations with other departments. The clinic also provides a unique opportunity to newly registered patients to interact with the ones who have already experienced bariatric surgery and find out more about the quality of life after such surgery. All attempts are made to make the procedure patient friendly.  

Bariatric surgery requires lifelong follow up. The operated patients are actively followed and reminders are sent to them to attend the clinic The team has a specialist dietician to address the dietary issues of patients before and after surgery, which are as important as the surgery itself.  

The Bariatric Surgery Clinic of AIIMS operates every Thursday at 2 pm in Room no.10, 5^th floor Surgery OPD (Old OPD).

Professor, Department of Surgical Disciplines Editor , JMAS Member Editorial Board - 'Obesity Surgery' E-Mail Id -  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   Speciality Interest - Bariatric Surgery, Kidney Transplant AIIMS website link: Dr Sandeep Aggarwal Pubmed ID – Publication Orcid ID Sandeep Aggarwal (0000-0001-9540-0303)

 Dr Sandeep Aggarwal, MS, FACS, FICLS, attended medical school at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and completed his surgical residency from AIIMS. He also completed a 1-year fellowship at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, USA and a 4 month period in Homerton University, London, UK as a Commonwealth Fellow where he got trained in Bariatric Surgery. He has been a Faculty member in the Department of Surgical Disciplines at AIIMS since 1999 and is currently Professor of Surgery at AIIMS, New Delhi. He is an accomplished bariatric surgeon and developed a robust obesity surgery program at AIIMS in year 2008, the first public funded Institution in the Country to have such a program for Obese Population. Since then he has operated more than 1100 morbidly obese patients. He set up a dedicated bariatric surgery clinic for comprehensive care of obese patients. He is the Faculty in charge of a 2-year Bariatric Fellowship Program at AIIMS.

Dr Aggarwal is actively involved in research in the field of obesity, bariatric and metabolic surgery. His research interests include impact of Obesity Surgery on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), Obstructive sleep apnea and Type 2 Diabetes mellitus. He is also involved in collaborative research with department of Biochemistry at AIIMS. He is also evaluating impact of non-surgical management including pharmacologic treatment of obesity. He has authored numerous book chapters and published his research in high impact journals. Dr Aggarwal is the section editor of an internationally acclaimed book on Bariatric Surgery published by Springer, UK. He has delivered more than hundred national and international presentations on obesity and Bariatric Surgery as an invited faculty.

Dr Aggarwal is an active member of several scientific societies. He is the Founder President of Foundation for Obesity Research and Metabolic Surgery and has been a past executive member of Obesity and |Metabolic Surgery Society of India (OSSI). He has organized several CMEs and conferences in this field. He is a member of AIIMS Institutional Ethics Committee for post-graduate research. He is widely recognized as a leader in the field of Obesity surgery and has helped start bariatric surgery at other Government institutions including PGI, Chandigarh, LNJP and LHMC hospitals besides training numerous surgeons. His future goals include setting up a dedicated Center of Excellence for Obesity and bariatric surgery at AIIMS for comprehensive care, training and high quality research in this field.

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