Dublin hospital sees threefold rise in emergency admissions over weight-loss surgeries overseas

There has been a threefold increase in the number of people presenting to a Dublin hospital having had weight-loss surgery abroad which resulted in complications, a surgeon has said.

Prof Helen Heneghan, who specialises in bariatric surgery, including gastric bypass and other weight-loss surgeries, at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, said: “In the last three years, it’s tripled. We would see approximately one to two patients per week arriving just from our own catchment area who are in trouble after they’ve had these procedures abroad.”

The hospital also sees four to five times that volume in referrals to its outpatient department per week as well.

“It is a significant burden on our healthcare system,” Prof Heneghan added, saying the cost to St Vincent’s hospital group over the last year was in excess of €1 million to care for the patients who’ve come back to Ireland requiring inpatient care,” she told RTÉ radio’s This Week on Sunday.

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There were some “terribly unethical and unprofessional practices” going on when these procedures were being marketed in Ireland.

“There’s really a heavy emphasis on marketing these procedures to people, which is not what should be done with a healthcare intervention. There are roadshows in hotels around Ireland offering free consultations. If patients sign up on the day, they’re offered discounts,” she said.

A five-year long waiting list in Ireland for bariatric surgeries was among the reasons why people go abroad for these procedures, she said.

“There are terrible practices where if four people go together on the same day, they’re given a discount,” Prof Heneghan said.

Earlier this week, a group of medics called for the creation of a national register of patients who have undergone weight-loss surgery abroad. The call was made in the July-August edition of the Irish Medical Journal, which details the post-operative complications of four patients who had travelled overseas to have bariatric procedures, including the insertion of gastric bands and balloons.

[ Call for creation of register logging patients having weight-loss surgery abroad ]

The medics state that there is “a significant risk of complications if appropriate post-operative care is not available” and that a register would make it easier to keep track of who has had such procedures abroad.

A register should, they argue, include the date and location where the surgery took place, contact details for the surgeon who carried out the procedure and details of the weight loss equipment used.

While a registry of people travelling abroad for these procedures would “offer us insight” into the figures, which are currently unknown, it would “not stop” people travelling for them, Prof Heneghan said.

“We’ve an idea of how many people come back with problems but a registry would tell us if there’s a higher risk in certain clinics or with certain surgeons,” she said.

The solution to stop people travelling abroad for weight loss surgeries was “investing in access in Ireland” to ensure surgeries are “timely”.