History of surgical treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders

Surgery of obesity (bariatric surgery) as a separate area of medical science dates back its history from the middle of the previous century. The foundation for its development was based on the ideas of physiology of digestion, the causes and mechanisms of its disturbances that had been formed at that time. An important role was played by achievements in related areas of medicine: anesthesiology, transfusiology. Before that effective antibacterial drugs have already been created. Rich experience in various fields was brought for medicine by the Second World War. The return of society to pre-war cultural values became the impetus for bariatric surgery genesis. For two first decades, the main method of surgical treatment of overweight was shunting operations in the small intestine, aimed at reducing absorption of nutrients (malabsorption techniques). However, a significant number of negative side effects gradually forced to abandon this group of procedures and were the basis for the search for other options in surgical interventions. Since the late 60-es of the 20th century for two decades, methods have been actively developed that limited the flow of nutrients (restrictive approach). The main idea in the development of this group of operations was to reduce the volume of the stomach. At the same time, attempts were made to combine both malabsorptive and restrictive mechanisms in one technique. By the beginning of the 90-es, practically all the available variants of surgical interventions have been proposed and introduced into clinical practice. At the same time, minimally invasive surgical technologies began to be actively introduced into this area of medicine. By the beginning of the 21st century almost all surgical techniques have been adapted to endovideo- (laparoscopic-) surgery. Over the past decade, intraluminal (endoscopic) methods for reducing stomach volume and reducing nutrient absorption have been developed.