IU Health Arnett Physicians Bariatrics

Our Approach

Having the right support throughout your weight loss is vital to success. We offer support groups before and after surgery to help you establish healthy behaviors.

We also provide counseling and assistance for patients who want to overcome obesity and achieve a healthy weight.

Bariatric surgery is a tool to help you achieve your weight loss goals, but surgical weight loss is not for everyone. Our team's mission is to provide information you need to make the choice that is right for you.

Our program gives you access to a skilled bariatric surgeon and nursing staff, along with a registered dietitian to help you embrace a lifestyle that promotes health and wellness.

Our partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine gives our team access to leading research, nationally known scientists and the latest advancements in the causes, prevention and treatment of obesity.

Weight-loss surgery falls into two categories: restrictive surgery and malabsorptive surgery. Operations that reduce the stomach size are known as restrictive surgery because they limit the amount of food the stomach can hold.

IU Health Arnett Bariatrics offers sleeve gastrectomy. If you are interested in different surgical procedures, we will refer you to IU Health North Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery at IU Health North Hospital in Carmel, Indiana for surgery.

To help prepare you for a successful long-term weight loss journey, you must take an active role in the following treatment plan:

• Submit insurance information to determine bariatric surgery benefits eligibility
• Attend an educational office consult or complete an online Emmi Program
• Consult with surgeon, bariatric coordinator nurse and registered dietitian
• Undergo psychological testing and evaluation
• Complete three to six months of supervised weight loss (per insurance requirements)
• Demonstrate an understanding that bariatric surgery will not solve weight problems, but prescribed lifestyle changes can lead to success.
• Verify insurance authorization for surgery
• Complete testing to ensure physical readiness for surgery
• Receive laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery or sleeve gastrectomy
• Attend post-operative scheduled follow-up appointments for diet and weight loss management

Bariatric surgery is just one step along the path to losing and maintaining weight loss and a healthy lifestyle.

Sleeve Gastrectomy

Sleeve gastrectomy is a laparoscopic bariatric procedure which the bariatric surgeon removes approximately 75 percent of the stomach, shaping the remaining stomach into a long slender gastric tube or "sleeve."

The operation is typically completed in about one hour and most patients stay in the hospital one or two nights.

Learn more about sleeve gastrectomy