DFW Bariatrics and General Surgery, Dr. Sachin Kukreja’s practice, posted this video on its YouTube channel on July 2, 2025.
From the video’s description on YouTube
Here’s my take on the increasingly popular weight loss injections as a bariatric surgeon and medical weight loss specialist.
Medical vs. surgical treatment:
Both can be effective tools for people who have struggled to lose weight with traditional diet and exercise. Treatment should be personalized for each patient to help them achieve their goals in a realistic and healthy way.How much weight do you want to lose?
Bariatric surgery is generally more effective than the injections on the market currently. Bariatric patients can lose around 60-90% of their excess weight, compared to 5-20% on the medications. Studies also show that 11-15% of people are non-responders to the medications.No quick fixes.
Both medication and surgery require a long-term commitment to a healthy lifestyle. You need to consider injections “life-long” because there is a 20-60% weight regain associated with stopping them.Surgery can be cheaper, depending on insurance.
If you don’t have insurance coverage for these medications, they can be $500-$1,000 per month. Out of pocket surgery is often between $10-$30k.Do you have to choose?
No, just because you had weight loss surgery or want to have surgery doesn’t mean you can’t use these medications. We can use them beforehand to lower someone’s BMI to make the surgery safer or use them after surgery to help you get that little extra boost to achieve your goal.So which one is right for you? Ultimately, that’s a decision you should make with your bariatric surgery or obesity medical specialist.
More videos from the practice are on Dr. Sachin Kukreja’s profile.
