40 Years of Bariatric Surgery in Romania - Keeping up in Trend
Catalin CopaescuEditorials, no. 6, 2019
Article DOI: 10.21614/chirurgia.114.6.683
By the time of performing the first procedures dedicated to weight loss in Romania, the jejuno-ileal shunt was dominating the field. Proposed as a concept in the '50s by Kremen, Linner and Nelson (1), it has been modified to better balancing efficiency with safety and became the most popular procedure in US in the '70s (2).
Four decades ago, the jejuno-ileal shunt was introduced in Romania by the team of Professor Iuliu Suteu (1973) and, the largest experience with this weight loss procedure has been concentrated in Floreasca Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, in the mid '80s (3).
Al. Bucur, continued to operated obese patients in this hospital and later he published the results his experience concluded in his PhD Thesis, presented in 2004. The procedure was attractive for the Romanian surgeons due to its relative simplicity and the limited rate of early postoperative complications and, other surgical departments, such the one chaired by Professor Burlui started to perform jejuno-ileal shunt to morbidly obese patients (1985-1987) (4).
However, the mid- and long-term malabsorptive effects were difficult to manage, as expected. World-wide, strict rules were imposed at the time, for a still considered investigative procedure such as, it should not be undertaken unless facilities are available to handle long-term complications and to conduct significant research into the mechanism of obesity (5).
Moreover, due to the high cost and difficult to control complications, the operation was restricted (6).
Four decades ago, the jejuno-ileal shunt was introduced in Romania by the team of Professor Iuliu Suteu (1973) and, the largest experience with this weight loss procedure has been concentrated in Floreasca Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, in the mid '80s (3).
Al. Bucur, continued to operated obese patients in this hospital and later he published the results his experience concluded in his PhD Thesis, presented in 2004. The procedure was attractive for the Romanian surgeons due to its relative simplicity and the limited rate of early postoperative complications and, other surgical departments, such the one chaired by Professor Burlui started to perform jejuno-ileal shunt to morbidly obese patients (1985-1987) (4).
However, the mid- and long-term malabsorptive effects were difficult to manage, as expected. World-wide, strict rules were imposed at the time, for a still considered investigative procedure such as, it should not be undertaken unless facilities are available to handle long-term complications and to conduct significant research into the mechanism of obesity (5).
Moreover, due to the high cost and difficult to control complications, the operation was restricted (6).
