Why such variation?

I am considering RNY surgery and want to ask about something I find very disturbing. Every site and every question I see has a huge variation between responses to the same questions. Yet, at the same time, I read "trust in and do what your surgeon says". The variations I see are based on habit/opinion variations from surgeon to surgeon, not because "each person is different". It seems kind of dumb to trust when they can't agree. I would really like to see some response from some of the medical community on this one, too. If the RNY has been done & successful for decades, why aren't there established standards? Why no statistics beyond the 2 to 5 year range? If they've done so many of these, why do quoted complications statistics vary so much from surgeon to surgeon? If they are quoting only their own, is there any one out there compiling them into a national database? Why do opinions about RNY vary as to whether it is restrictive/malabsorptive/both and for how long those qualities are expected to last (avg) after surgery? Why do the immediate post-op diets vary so much (liquid/soft/intro of food types/foods banned)? Why does pre-screening and post-op support vary so significantly? Help.

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