INTRODUCTION
MORBID OBESITY, MORBID OBESITY
Morbid obesity is an serious health problem in BrazilAccording to the 1991 North American National Institution of Health (NIH) Consensus Conference, surgical procedures are the only effective treatments for morbid obesity in patients with a BMI greater than 40 kg/mThe Roux-en-Y gastric bypass by laparotomy is the most performed procedure for the treatment of morbid obesity in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS)Therefore, the limitations of administrative data set do not enable the comparison of laparoscopic versus laparotomy as shown in the publications, including the Medicare database and the United States Nationwide Admission SampleAlthough both surgeons and patients currently show preferences for the laparoscopic technique, it is still not available for the SUS patients. There are no randomized, prospective, risk-adjusted studies comparing the results of laparoscopic and open gastric bypass surgery for morbid obesity in SUS patients. The lack of scientific evidence comparing both techniques in terms of efficacy and morbidity keeps laparoscopic access still out of coverage.The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of laparoscopic bariatric surgery compared to the laparotomy, considering morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay, and hospitalization costs in the 30-day, 3-month, 6-month and 12-month periods.