AIIMS doctors perform bariatric surgery on man weighing 209 kg

Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, have performed bariatric surgery on a 32-year-old man weighing 209 kg after a month-long multidisciplinary intervention that reduced his weight, stabilised his breathing, and enabled a procedure initially considered high risk.

The patient, with a body mass index (BMI) of 74 kg/m², suffered from severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), respiratory failure, and obesity-related conditions, including hypertension, prediabetes, and dyslipidaemia. His condition had deteriorated to the extent that he required an emergency tracheostomy and remained dependent on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) support for over a month before surgery.

His body size also posed logistical challenges, as an abdominal girth of 198 cm prevented safe positioning on a conventional operating table. A multidisciplinary team comprising bariatric surgeons, anaesthesiologists, intensivists, physicians, infection-control specialists, dietitians, and physiotherapists devised a pre-operative optimisation plan to improve respiratory function and reduce abdominal fat.