Bariatric Surgery

You are not alone in this journey. Our program is run by a team of specialists who are here to help you prepare for surgery, undergo a safe procedure, and maintain healthy lifestyle habits designed to ensure you achieve success. 

Our Bariatric Surgeons
Evaluate your overall health and help recommend a weight loss procedure that's right for you. Their years of experience performing about 800 bariatric surgeries annually -- nearly 99% are minimally invasive -- ensure you have the safest, most positive outcome possible. 

Our Nutritionist and Behavioral Health Providers
Meet with you individually and in group settings to address your concerns and recommend ways to overcome challenges. We help you adopt a healthy lifestyle so you lose weight and keep it off.

Our Nurses and Financial Counselors
Navigate you through your insurance benefits and requirements, evaluation, and testing. Our bariatric coordinator helps before and after your surgery and hospitalization.

Monthly Support Groups
Meet people coping with similar experiences. We encourage you, your family, and your friends to attend these groups in Durham or Raleigh before and after your weight loss surgery. Monthly topics cover nutrition, exercise, lifestyle changes, and more.

Our Facebook Group
Connects you (once you are a Duke patient) with others waiting for surgery or who had a procedure. They discuss their struggles and achievements, ask questions, and share what works for them.

Our Group Appointments Are a Proven Method for Managing Chronic Disease
We provide lifelong follow-up after surgery through shared appointments, which allow you to meet with several providers in group settings. This shared approach to care has been proven to improve health outcomes in people with chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and other medical conditions related to obesity and metabolic syndrome. You can interact with others with similar experiences.

Our Bariatric Surgeons Are Nationally Recognized
Our weight loss surgeons hold leadership positions in professional organizations. They deliver lectures, help develop treatment guidelines, and teach the latest bariatric surgery techniques to future bariatric surgeons and doctors who travel to Duke from across the country and around the world to participate in our courses.

Our Surgeons Correct Complications from Previous Weight Loss Surgeries
Our surgeons work with people who experience complications from old weight loss procedures, such as stomach stapling (vertical banded gastroplasty, or VBG) and jejunoileal bypass, both of which are no longer performed. If you are experiencing complications, we can diagnose your concerns and offer solutions. Our experience handling all complications associated with weight loss surgeries is well-known. Other physician practices often refer their patients to us when complications occur.

Weight Loss Surgery Revision Options
If you have regained weight following weight loss surgery, we can help you correct behaviors that may have gone off course. We evaluate your anatomy, behavior, and medical conditions to determine a treatment strategy. If appropriate, we offer revision options, depending on your original procedure.

We Use the Latest Advances in Endoscopic Procedures
While these procedures are not covered by insurance and have not been available for as long as the standard weight-loss surgeries, they show promise. Our bariatric surgeons and our gastroenterologist are trained to perform endoscopic weight loss procedures, such as the gastric balloon. They evaluate your medical condition to determine if you may benefit from one of these less invasive approaches.

We Employ New Surgical Approaches that Make Smaller incisions
As leaders in bariatric surgery, we are often among the first in the U.S. to employ new surgical approaches designed to improve outcomes. For example, we’re using magnets, robotic techniques, and even tinier surgical instruments to decrease incision sizes to the point where only one incision may be needed and leave an almost invisible scar. These new technologies also increase your surgeon's ability to see and maneuver around organs during your surgery.