NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Many of the 170,000 morbidly obese U.S. patients who undergo bariatric surgery annually to reduce the stomach have to deal with folds of excess skin.
"Massive post-surgical weight loss leaves most with unsightly excess folds of skin and fat, and in some ways the patient can actually look worse, not better," said Dr. Jason A. Spector of the Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.
"For many, the next phase of this journey is a series of operations collectively called 'body contouring,' where surgeons remove this excess tissue and sculpt and restore the body to a more normal, aesthetically pleasing look."
For most patients, it's an amazing transformation, a return to health and confidence," according to Spector.
The emerging field of post-surgical body contouring remains relatively new and unfamiliar to many non-specialists; however, Spector along with Drs. Nolan Karp and Steven Levine of New York University have co-authored a "state of the science" review article aimed at gastroenterologists, published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.
