Weight loss surgery coming to Iowa

A surgical procedure many associate with celebrities like Al Roker and Carnie Wilson will soon be available on a routine basis in Iowa. It’s called laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery and involves radically reducing the size of the stomach and small intestine. It’s reserved only for people who are at least one-hundred pounds over their ideal weight who’ve exhausted all options. Surgeon Matt Glascock at Sartori Memorial Hospital in Cedar Falls expects it to perform many, starting in February. He says “Iowa is one of the states that leads the nation in terms of numbers of people with clinically significant obesity.” Dr. Glascock says his surgical technique lasts as little as 90 minutes and involves -not- a huge traditional incision, but several small ones. Glascock says patients usually drop a lot of weight, right away, after the procedure. He says they’ll typically lose a-hundred pounds within a year. Glascock has already performed the operation hundreds of times on the East Coast. While the surgery has been performed in Iowa, Glascock says it’s only been in a few cases. He says Sartori will be the first hospital in the state to offer the procedure on a routine and on-going basis.