Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Bariatric/Metabolic Surgery in the Asia-Pacific Region: APMBSS 2018 Survey

  • Original Contributions
  • Published:
Obesity Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

The Asia-Pacific Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Society (APMBSS) held its congress in Tokyo at the end of March, 2018, and representatives from Asia-Pacific countries presented the current status of bariatric/metabolic surgery in the “National Reports” session. The data are summarized here to show the current status and problems in the Asia-Pacific region in 2017.

Methods

A questionnaire including data of 2016 and 2017 and consisting of eight general questions was prepared and sent to representatives in 18 Asia-Pacific countries by e-mail before the congress. After the congress, the data were analyzed and summarized.

Results

Seventeen of 18 countries responded to the survey. The frequency of obesity (BMI ≥ 30) in the 4 Gulf countries was > 30%, much higher than that in the other countries. In total, 1640 surgeons and 869 institutions were engaging in bariatric/metabolic surgery. In many East and Southeast Asian countries, the indication for bariatric surgery was BMI ≥ 35 or ≥ 37, whereas in many Gulf countries and Australia, it was BMI ≥ 40 or ≥ 35 with obesity-related disease. Ten of the 17 countries (58.8%) but only one of the 5 Southeast Asian countries (20.0%) had public health insurance coverage for bariatric surgery. In 2017, 95,125 patients underwent bariatric/metabolic surgery, with sleeve gastrectomy accounting for 68.0%, bypass surgery for 19.5%, and others for 12.5%. Current problems included public insurance coverage, training system, national registry, and lack of awareness and comprehension.

Conclusion

This summary showed that bariatric/metabolic surgery is rapidly developing along with various problems in Asia-Pacific countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Agrisani L, Santonicola A, Iovino P, et al. Bariatric surgery and endoluminal procedures: IFSO worldwide survey 2014. Obes Surg. 2017;27(9):2279–89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-2666-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Buchwald H, Oien DM. Metabolic/bariatric surgery worldwide 2011. Obes Surg. 2013;23(4):427–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-012-0864-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Nimeri A, Al Hadad M, Khoursheed M, et al. The peri-operative bariatric surgery care in the Middle East region. Obes Surg. 2017;27(6):1543–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-016-2503-7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Lee WJ, Wang W. Bariatric surgery: Asia-Pacific perspective. Obes Surg. 2005;15(6):751–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Prevalence of obesity among adults, BMI ≥ 30, age-standardized estimates by country, Global Health Observatory (GHO) data. World Health Organization homepage. http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A900A?lang=en.

  6. Diabetes country profiles 2016, World Health Organization homepage. http://www.who.int/diabetes/country-profiles/en/.

  7. Body mass index (BMI) distribution, Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region homepage. https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/statistics/data/10/280/6620.html.

  8. Quan J, Li TK, Pang H, et al. Diabetes incidence and prevalence in Hong Kong, China during 2006–2014. Diabet Med. 2017;34(7):902–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/dme.13284.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Chang HC, Yang HC, Chang HY, et al. Morbid obesity in Taiwan: prevalence, tends, associated social demographics, and lifestyle factors. PLoS One. 2017;12(2):e0169577. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169577.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Diabetes and me, Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare homepage. https://www.hpa.gov.tw/EngPages/Detail.aspx?nodeid=1067&pid=7181.

  11. World Population 2017 Wallchart, United Nations homepage. https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/.

  12. Percentage of total population by broad age group, both sexes (per 100 total population), United Nations homepage. https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/DataQuery/.

  13. Buchwald H, Williams SE. Bariatric surgery worldwide 2003. Obes Surg. 2004;14(9):1157–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Buchwald H, Oien DM. Metabolic/bariatric surgery worldwide 2008. Obes Surg. 2009;19(12):1605–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-009-0014-5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Agrisani L, Santonicola A, Iovino P, et al. Bariatric surgery worldwide 2013. Obes Surg. 2015;25(10):1822–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1657-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lomanto D, Lee WJ, Goel R, et al. Bariatric surgery in Asia in the last 5 years (2005–2009). Obes Surg. 2012;22(3):502–6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-011-0547-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Martin LF, Tan T, Horn JR, et al. Comparison of the cost associated with medical and surgical treatment of obesity. Surgery. 1995;118(4):599–607.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hoerger TJ, Zhang P, Segel JE, et al. Cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery for severely obese adults with diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2010;33(9):1933–9. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc10-0554.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Song HJ, Kwon JW, Kim YJ, et al. Bariatric surgery for the treatment of severe obese patients in South Korea – is it cost effective? Obes Surg. 2013;23(12):2058–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-013-0971-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Tang Q, Sun Z, Zhang N, et al. Cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Randomized controlled trial in China. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(20):e3522. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000003522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Lee YY, Veerman JL, Barendregt JJ. The cost-effectiveness of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in the morbidly obese adult population of Australia. PLoS One. 2013;8(5):e64965. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0064965.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Rubino F, Nathan DM, Eckel RH, et al. Metabolic surgery in the treatment algorithm for type 2 diabetes: a joint statement by International Diabetes Organizations. Diabetes Care. 2016;39(6):861–77. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc16-0236.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Petrin C, Kahan S, Turner M, et al. Current practices of obesity pharmacotherapy, bariatric surgery referral and coding for counselling by healthcare professionals. Obes Sci Pract. 2016;2(3):266–71.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Matlok M, Pedziwiatr M, Major P, et al. The knowledge of Polish medical students about surgical treatment of obesity. Eur Surg. 2015;47(5):266–70.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Zacharoulis D, Bakalis V, Zachari E, et al. Current knowledge and perception of bariatric surgery among Greek doctors living in Thessaly. Asian J Endosc Surg. 2018;11(2):138–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/ases.12436.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Deurenberg P, Yap M, van Staveren WA. Body mass index and percent body fat: a meta analysis among different ethnic groups. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1998;22(12):1164–71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Wong RJ, Chou C, Sinha SR, et al. Ethnic disparities in the association of body mass index with the risk of hypertension and diabetes. J Community Health. 2014;39(3):437–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-013-9792-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Misra A. Ethnic-specific criteria for classification of body mass index: a perspective for Asian Indians and American Diabetes Association position statement. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2015;17(9):667–71. https://doi.org/10.1089/dia.2015.0007.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Hsu WC, Araneto MRG, Kanaya AM, et al. BMI cut points to identify at-risk Asian Americans for type 2 diabetes screening. Diabetes Care. 2015;38(1):150–8. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc14-2391.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Drs. Akira Sasaki and Takeshi Naitoh for the congress organization, Drs. Ken Loi, Sung Soo Park, Praveen Raj, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Susumu Inamine, and Takashi Oshiro for the program management, Dr. Nik Ritza Kosai for data management in Malaysia, and Dr. Kazuhiro Tada for manuscript assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Gastroenterological and Pediatric Surgery, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, 1-1 Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Yufu, Oita, 879-5593, Japan

    Masayuki Ohta

  2. Weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery Center, Yotsuya Medical Cube, Tokyo, Japan

    Yosuke Seki & Kazunori Kasama

  3. Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Simon Ki-Hung Wong

  4. Department of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

    Cunchuan Wang

  5. Body Science & Metabolic Disorders International Medical Center, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan

    Chih-Kun Huang

  6. Department of Upper GI Surgery, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Australia

    Ahmad Aly

  7. Institute of Minimal Access Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, India

    Manish Baijal

  8. Department of Surgery, Amiri Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait

    Salman Al-Sabah

  9. Department of Surgery, Chula Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, Chula Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Suthep Udomsawaengsup

  10. Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, South Korea

    Yoon Seok Heo

  11. Department of Surgery, Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Division, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Saad Sqer Althuwaini

  12. Metabolic Surgery Clinic, Istanbul, Turkey

    Alper Celik

  13. Department of General Surgery, Laparoscopic Surgery, Khorfakkan Hospital, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

    Nafad El-Hadidi

  14. Department of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar

    Davit Sargsyan

  15. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia

    Tikfu Gee

  16. Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    Jaideepraj Rao

  17. Premier Bintaro Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Errawan R. Wiradisuria

  18. Institute of Surgery, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Manila, Philippines

    Edward Oliveros

  19. Oita University, Oita, Japan

    Seigo Kitano

Authors
  1. Masayuki Ohta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yosuke Seki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Simon Ki-Hung Wong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cunchuan Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Chih-Kun Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ahmad Aly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Manish Baijal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Salman Al-Sabah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Suthep Udomsawaengsup
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Yoon Seok Heo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Saad Sqer Althuwaini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Alper Celik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Nafad El-Hadidi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Davit Sargsyan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Tikfu Gee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Jaideepraj Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Errawan R. Wiradisuria
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Edward Oliveros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. Seigo Kitano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. Kazunori Kasama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masayuki Ohta.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Standard of Informed Consent

This is a survey in which there is no direct involvement with human subjects; it is limited to an analysis of population and bariatric/metabolic procedures in the Asia-Pacific region.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ohta, M., Seki, Y., Wong, S.KH. et al. Bariatric/Metabolic Surgery in the Asia-Pacific Region: APMBSS 2018 Survey. OBES SURG 29, 534–541 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-018-3539-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-018-3539-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation