DFW Bariatrics and General Surgery, Dr. Sachin Kukreja’s practice, posted this video on its YouTube channel on July 7, 2025.
From the video’s description on YouTube
I get this question a lot – “Do I have to lose weight to qualify for bariatric surgery?”
The short answer is: No!
It’s true that back in the day, many programs required patients to lose some percentage of their body weight in order to get surgery. Today, there are a few elements of the bariatric surgery pre-op process that are sometimes (incorrectly) thought to be about weight loss:
Some insurance companies require “participation in a weight loss program” or “supervised diet” for a certain amount of months before they will cover your surgery. This is just to show proof that you are trying.
Some surgeons may ask you to follow a liquid diet for two weeks before surgery, but this is to help shrink your liver and make the surgery safer – not to lose weight, though that might happen.
Some providers might not be comfortable performing surgery on a patient with a BMI over 70 or 80. They may ask you to lose weight to reduce the risks during surgery. I find that most surgeons that are specifically bariatric – not just general performing bariatric – have a much higher tolerance for operating on less healthy patients. (At our practice, we don’t have an upper limit on BMI.)
Remember, the focus of the preop period should be on safety and making sure you’re ready for this big life change, not ‘proving’ your willpower to anyone.
More videos from the practice are on Dr. Sachin Kukreja’s profile.
