Bariatric weight loss surgery has long been recognized as the most effective and durable means of weight loss for individuals with excess weight of 80 lbs or more. Nearly 300,000 successful weight loss procedures are done every year in the United States, with majority performed at bariatric centers of excellence. Thanks to a robust prospectively gathered national database linking all such centers, comparative data are now available for quality improvement purposes.
Dr. Marc Zare, a board-certified surgeon specializing in minimally invasive surgery, is the director of bariatric surgery at one of such centers of excellence at Good Samaritan Hospital, San Jose, California. We have been able to compare success rates within our practice against standard benchmarks and proud to see our results consistently well above national averages.
Following bariatric surgery, a rare complication is development of gastric leak through the surgical staple line. Symptoms of gastric leak include fever and tachycardia (fast heart rate). With improvements in laparoscopic skills and technology, nationwide the incidence of leaks has decreased to 1% to 5% depending on the type of weight loss surgery. How do we compare to nation averages? We let the numbers speak for themselves. Dr. Zare has performed nearly 1,000 bariatric procedures to date with only one staple line leak, resulting in a leak rate of 0.1%. Additionally, we have the rare distinction of having had zero mortality and zero laparoscopic-to-open conversion, i.e., having completed all procedures to date via minimally invasive approach. With attention to every detail and adoption of best practices, our postoperative bleeding and surgical site infection have been virtually eliminated since 2013.
We have access to and perform all procedures at not just one, but two Bariatric centers of excellence: Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, and El Camino Mountain View. Both facilities are state-of-the-art tertiary care centers. Often insurance companies will stipulate that preferred providers perform your surgery at such centers. As a result of our work, large insurance carriers have trusted their highest designations on our program: Aexcel® designation by Aetna®, 3-Star Quality Bariatric Center designation by Cigna®, and 5-star rating by Healthgrades.
Our knowledgeable and compassionate staff handle various aspects of clinical care right from answering initial inquires and assistance with easy financing options to the postoperative period when patients are offered comprehensive multidisciplinary support services (dietician, nutritionist, physical therapist, psychologist, etc.) along with long-term follow-up plans. As a nationally recognized expert in bariatric surgery with more than 14 years of experience, Dr. Zare uses innovative new treatments to ensure every patient’s surgical experience is meaningful and the results of surgery match patient’s highest aspirations.
