Overweight is a very serious problem, if people have been overweight for long period of time then they reach to a point where they have to replace their hip or the knee.

But if the person is heavier then this solution will not work for the person.

Dr Emily Dodwell, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at HSS says, “Up to 50 percent of hip replacements are performed in obese patients at some institutions. Obesity is associated with longer hospital stays, higher overall costs and higher failure rates, necessitating costly revision surgery.”

Most cases the patients are asked to lose their weight before the knee or hip replacement and in some cases it is very impossible to lose weight, then doctors suggests going for bariatric surgery which helps to reduce weight very quickly and a speedy recovery.

“For the study, we chose a decision analysis design because we could use a mathematical model to simulate the outcomes and costs of each treatment path based on results and costs that have already been published in the literature,” says Dodwell.

She further adds, “Our findings indicate that surgical weight loss prior to joint replacement is likely a cost-effective option from a public payer standpoint in order to improve outcomes in obese patients who are candidates for joint replacement, some health care systems do not include weight loss surgery as a covered benefit, and it is possible that studies such as this will be helpful in re-evaluating whether weight loss surgery may be a reasonable covered benefit.”