Bariatric Surgery Leads to Bone Density Decrease : 'We can really do a lot for these patients by just making sure we minimize their risk of falling.'

Start treatment for osteoporosis using the same criteria used for patients who have not had bariatric surgery and weight loss—mainly because there are no data to do otherwise. Some clinicians have suggested considering a large weight loss to be a risk factor for osteoporosis, which might prompt treatment in a patient with a T score of -1.5 plus this risk factor, “but there are no good data to support doing that,” he said.

'The main thing is to optimize preoperative status' by normalizing vitamin D and calcium levels. DR. SABOWITZ