alcohol and drug use as part of post-surgery care, the study authors said.
The researchers also called on primary-care doctors to be more aware of these risks as they treat patients who have had weight-loss surgery, and for more long-term follow-up. The deaths uncovered in the study occurred about five years after surgery.
Morton underscored the importance of awareness.
“Substance abuse education needs to be embedded in the pre-op process, and more counseling needs to be provided after surgery,” he said. “But people also need to remember that they are having bariatric surgery to lose weight and improve their health, and consuming alcohol doesn’t fit with those goals.”
The study was recently published online in the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.
More information
There’s more on weight-loss surgery at the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
