Bariatric surgery has emerged as the single most effective treatment for morbid obesity and obesity-related medical conditions. Over the last decade, several randomized clinical trials and large cohort studies have demonstrated significant benefits of bariatric surgery compared with nonsurgical management, including sustained weight loss, resolution of type 2 diabetes, reduced cardiovascular morbidity, and reductions in all-cause mortality.1-3 Combined with substantial improvements in perioperative safety,4 this evidence has contributed to a substantial increase in use of these procedures. Bariatric surgery is now the second most common abdominal operation—after cholecystectomy—performed in the United States, with approximately 150 000 cases performed each year.5