"The Role of the Dietitian in Bariatric Surgery'' event with the participation of Dietitian Nagehan Afşar was held on Sunday, June 6th, 2021 at 8:00 pm on Google Meet. By emphasizing the importance of knowing obesity well, Dietitian Afşar said, "Obesity is known as a complex and chronic disease that can impair our health, increase the risk of long-term complications, shorten the lifespan. If we look at its etiology; we can briefly define obesity as more consumed calories than burned calories, lack of exercise, sedentary life pattern or hormonal dysfunctions. However, current studies in the literature focus on the interaction of these factors with each other rather than their independent effects. Therefore, if these factors are not evaluated as a whole in interventions aimed at weight loss, it may be difficult to achieve the desired results."
Afşar emphasized that the dietitian has a very important place in the treatment of bariatric surgery, based on her clinical experience and said, "As a dietitian, we have very important roles before, during and after surgery. Before surgery; we have great importance in defining obesity and treatment methods according to the patient's history, physical examination and laboratory results." She continued her presentation with explanations about stomach botox, gastric balloon and bariatric surgery operations and said, “I am talking about these because making the correct diagnosis is very important for the dietitian to guide patients correctly and for the physician to apply these procedures only to those who need to be.” Based on current literature and her clinical experience, she explained the important criteria in determining the people who undergo surgical intervention. Also, Afşar added that each person should be evaluated individually and the important thing is to apply the right intervention.
After mentioning the methods and principles applied in surgery, Afşar continued her presentation about the role of the dietitian during the surgical process and she said, "The physician is only performing the surgery. On the first day after the patient is admitted to the clinic, his/her first communion is with you, with a dietitian. You are responsible for the management of the patient's postoperative complications. The patient may have pain, nausea, and the amount that can be tolerated decreases because of the stomach size." Afşar informed participants in detail about the nutrition protocol that patients should follow after the operation, and she stated that the dietitian is primarily responsible for complications related to nutrition. She said that the theoretical information should be sensed very well, but it should not be forgotten that this transition process may vary from person to person in practice.
By stating that the role of the dietitian after surgery is perhaps the most important, Afşar continued her speech by saying "If a dietitian is not worked with, the risk of weight gain increases after surgery. Because the patient may start to take alcohol or may have a misperception that losing weight after the operation will continue this way without any effort. However, of course, there is no such thing. After 1.5-2 years, the habits of the patient come into play again. If the person applies an accurate nutrition plan, s/he can maintain her/his weight, but if s/he continues her/his wrong habits, weight gain will be inevitable. If the person does not work with a dietitian, the efficiency of the surgical intervention would decrease much." She informed participants about the importance of planning a nutrition program for the patients considering their personal postoperative complications and emphasized that it is also very important to ensure adequate intake of macro & micronutrients for each patient. Afşar mentioned the main and common reasons for not reaching the target weight and gaining weight and stated that the dietitian' observations are very important in determining and solving these reasons.
At the end of the event, questions from the participants were answered. The event was ended by celebrating the Dietitians' Day of all participants and Dietitian Nagehan Afşar.
