besity rates in the United States and globally are steadily increasing. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that since 1975, obesity rates globally have nearly tripled. 1 Worldwide in 2016, nearly 2 billion adults were overweight, and of those, 650 million were obese. 1 In the United States, the obesity rate was 39.8% in 2015-2016, and among adults, the rate was 42.8% for those ages 40 to 59 years. 2 Multiple factors infl uence obesity, including environment, lifestyle, stress and other emotional factors, genetics, race, and endocrine factors. 3 Obesity has been linked to multiple medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), cardiac disease, and cancer. 4 Most patients with morbid obesity have tried multiple diets without long-term success. Lifestyle changes can result in a 2% to 6% weight loss, but almost 90% of patients will have regained the weight in 1 to 5 years. 5 As such, many patients consider bariatric surgery as a tool to reduce weight and improve or resolve comorbid conditions asso-