Article documents preliminary findings about fractures after any type of bariatric surgery

An early analysis of a study done at the Mayo Clinic was presented by ASMBS president, John Backer, MD at the Endocrine Society in June 2009 which found that those who had bariatric surgery were nearly 4 times as likely to sustain a fracture after surgery than the general population. They were not sure if the fractures were due to vitamin deficiencies prior to surgery, malabsorbtion issues after surgery or possibly because people's bodies shapes and centers of balance had changed substantially. The following excerpt points to the need to get sufficient supplimentation of calicium and vitamin D regardless of your surgery type.

"Before and after gastric bypass, patients are routinely told to take at least 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily, and usually 800 milligrams of D, but that may not be enough," Baker said.

Monitoring patients closely is crucial, he said. "No matter which surgery [of several bariatric surgery options] they have had done, they need to be monitored for calcium, vitamin D levels and parathyroid hormones long term," he said. Parathyroid hormones help increase calcium levels in the blood.

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