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Obesity Center CHUV

An Obesity Center opens at the CHUV

28.03.2023
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The creation of an Obesity Center at the CHUV enables the teams of Dr. Lucie Favre, head of the Obesity Consultation (Endocrinology Service), and Dr. Styliani Mantziari, head of the Bariatric Surgery Unit (Visceral Surgery Service), to combine their expertise in order to offer multidisciplinary and personalized care to patients who suffer from obesity.

 

Obesity leads to co-morbidities such as sleep apnea, heartburn, heart disease, osteoarthritis in the joints and diabetes. In Switzerland, this chronic disease affects 11% of the population.

The classification of obesity based on the body mass index does not take into account the severity of the co-morbidities, the functional limitations that can result from it or the psychological suffering. The new CHUV Obesity Center offers a global and multidisciplinary evaluation and allows for the orientation of patient care based on a precise assessment of their individual situation.

 

Being at the center of one’s care project

Obesity represents a major public health issue, but too rarely benefits from clearly defined and coordinated care. Often, in the various treatment structures, care depends on the skills available, with a preference for bariatric surgery or drug treatment (endocrinology). Strengthening the collaboration and coordination of professionals helps to avoid segmenting these treatment options.

“Obesity management has long been fragmented and lacked a comprehensive vision. The therapeutic pathway for each patient is now established after multidisciplinary reflection. This results in a real gain for their quality of life,” notes Dr. Styliani Mantziari, co-leader of the Obesity Center.

Patients can benefit from specialized consultations according to their needs (drug or endocrine treatment, surgery, psychological and dietary support).

 

Declining all therapeutic options

Dr. Lucie Favre, co-director of the Obesity Center, indicates that “it has become imperative to put patients at the centre of the care journey and accompany them toward a coherent care project. This Center, which brings together the strengths and skills of the various caregivers involved in obesity, makes it possible to integrate all therapeutic options and to build, after a multidimensional assessment, a care project adapted to each.”

The new medical-surgical obesity centre at CHUV offers a single point of entry and early medical, surgical and psychological evaluation. By integrating patients values and preferences, it declines all therapeutic options and ensures equitable access to information and to the different professionals involved.

Currently, the two entities now combined that are the Ambulatory Consultation for Bariatric Surgery and the Obesity Consultation of the CHUV respectively take care of about 550 patients and more than 1500 patients per year. About 70 surgical procedures are performed.

 

Source: CHUV. Read the original article in French.