All Montenegrin insured persons, who meet the prescribed conditions, have the right to free surgical treatment of obesity at the Clinical Center of Montenegro (KCCG).
This type of procedure, laparoscopic "sleeve" gastrectomy, can be performed in this institution and for patients from abroad, and the competent health institutions - the Ministry of Health, the Health Insurance Fund (FZO) and KCCG are currently working on forming the price for this type of treatment.
Until now, Montenegrin citizens have had this procedure done in a private clinic in Podgorica or abroad, at a price of around 5.500 euros. For this type of procedure, as well as other laparoscopic operations, the necessary equipment is provided at KCCG.
Candidate patients from 18 to 60 years old
Candidates for laparoscopic "sleeve" gastrectomy are patients aged 18 to 60, with a body mass index (BMI) of over 40 kg/m2 without other diseases, patients with a BMI of 35 to 40 kg/m2 with comorbidities caused by obesity, in whom improvement is expected after surgery. procedures, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, severe joint diseases, psychological problems related to obesity. Patients who started gaining weight again with conservative methods of obesity treatment.
That's what the KCCG surgeon said Miljan Zindovic and explained that for patients over 60 years of age, the indication is set individually, in order to improve the quality of life.
Pregnant women and malignant patients cannot undergo surgery
Zindović explains that certain categories of patients cannot undergo this type of procedure, including pregnant women and people with serious mental illnesses...
"Contraindications for bariatric surgery are in patients who have not previously tried medical treatment of obesity, as well as in those who have not accepted this type of treatment, in patients with unstable and severe mental illnesses, who have previously had specific operations on the stomach, in patients with alcoholism , cirrhosis of the liver, malignant diseases, in pregnant women and patients who are unable to take care of themselves and have no family or social support," he says.
Over 40 percent of the population is obese
According to available data from the Institute for Public Health (IJZ), more than 40 percent of the population in Montenegro is obese or overnourished, while research from 2016 shows that we are the sixth in Europe according to the degree of obesity among school-aged children.
"Obesity rates have nearly tripled since 1975, and have increased nearly fivefold in children and adolescents, affecting people of all ages from various social groups in developed and developing countries. "Obesity is the main risk factor for various non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and stroke, as well as various forms of cancer," the IJZ warned earlier. They state that obese people are often marginalized and blamed for their condition, including by doctors, decision makers and others who do not fully understand the causes of obesity.
"It is often a complex combination of nutritional, lifestyle, genetic, psychological, sociocultural, economic and environmental factors," claim the IJZ.
Surgery until recovery, complications are rare
Obesity surgery has proven to be a very effective method of treatment, especially for people under 40 years of age, and it also cures certain diseases, such as diabetes, improves heart function, and normalizes the menstrual cycle in women.
Today, all obesity operations are performed laparoscopically, with general anesthesia, and last an hour or a little longer, and the patients and their weight loss, i.e. recovery, are monitored for a period of one month to eight years after the operation.
"Vijesti" previously announced that with the "gastric sleeve resection" procedure, from the usual volume of the stomach (about 1,5 liters), that organ is reduced to a volume of 100 millimeters, which means that the patient cannot consume more than a cup of food in one meal . In two thirds of patients, the body adapts to a smaller amount of food, which affects the reduction of weight and the need for calories...
Complications in obesity surgeries occur in less than five percent of those operated on, more severe in less than one percent, while the mortality rate for such procedures in the world is below one percent.
IJZ clinic available to citizens
Within the IJZ, there is also a specialist outpatient clinic for eating disorders, where citizens can receive the services of a nutritionist and hygienist, and many of them who visited this institution claim that they have significantly reduced their number of kilograms.
In that outpatient clinic, eating habits are determined through a conversation and survey, anthropometric measurements are taken, and through laboratory analyses, personal, family and nutritional anamnesis, the patient's habits and risks of disease are determined, which is the basis for determining prevention or diet therapy.
The working hours of this clinic are from 8.30:14 a.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m., and appointments can be made by visiting or by email...
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