Even with the risks of an operation factored in, bariatric surgery can be a lifesaver, particularly for people who are very obese.
CNN: Weight-loss surgery safe, but sleep apnea increases risk
While he has had plastic surgery, a further operation to his face is long overdue.
As well, do patients believe that agreeing to have their operation broadcast will result in their surgery being done better or earlier?
They are starting with a much sicker patient and often doing something that is a re-operation or a more technically challenging surgery.
Samantha shared with me that her father had recently had open-heart surgery and as a post-operation gift she presented her father his favorite thing.
FORBES: The Gift of Love...Through the Pleasure of Receiving REDD!
Natalie Camarata, Memorial Hermann's digital marketing manager, told Mashable the plan to live tweet the operation was hatched following the open-heart surgery, which was viewed an estimated 125 million times through Twitter, Storify and media coverage.
CNN: Hospital to live tweet brain surgery, put pics on Pinterest
Basco-Yu's operation in 1998 was a type of minimally invasive surgery performed at Duke University Medical Center.
Oskouei invited CNN into his operating room for Gray's surgery, to see exactly how the operation is done.
The horse underwent surgery again 24 hours after a prolonged operation to remove a blockage of the small intestine.
The initial transplant operation was successful, but he contracted MRSA following surgery, and died after two further operations to clean up wounds.
Bill finally got his operation at the fifth attempt - two months after surgery was first scheduled, and nearly six months after cancer was originally diagnosed.
As for the little Syrian girl who has survived a war and now open-heart surgery, she will need one more operation in about a year's time as her body grows.
Patients wear headphones during surgery so that any noise associated with their operation is drowned out.
Last May, the former army paratrooper said he had recovered from an unspecified cancer, after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy in 2011 and a further operation in February 2012.
Instead of singing the praises of the brace, the salesman asked questions including whether, if a spine failed to heal properly post-surgery, that would be considered a successful operation.
The scientists found that for every 100 inactive women who needed surgery, just 69 active women required the same operation.
Hannah had an operation at the age of two weeks, but needed further surgery to prevent health problems as she grew.
When you or your family faces major surgery or medical treatment, the cost of the operation is the last thing on your mind.
He had his first operation after returning home from that tour, but needed more surgery last month and flew to Colorado in the USA to see a colleague of Dr Richard Steadman, the knee and shoulder specialist, who recently operated on team-mate Simon Jones.
BBC: SPORT | Cricket | England | Giles hoping to make Ashes tour
In 2001, patients requiring elective surgery could wait as long as 18 months for an operation.
ECONOMIST: Reform rather than cash is the right medicine for the NHS
However, surgeons must be well-trained in the principles of the operation, and good follow-up care is essential so the surgery won't fail.
But some surgeons who perform traditional open surgery warn that the rush to offer the minimally invasive operation may compromise patients' health.
The surgery he had on Tuesday in Gothenburg was his fourth operation on the foot, two months after the third in Holland.
Before this study, it was unclear whether patients who are about to undergo heart surgery would also benefit if they took statins before the operation.
FORBES: Preoperative Statins Found to Reduce AF and Length of Stay But Not Mortality
He provided live coverage of the first operation performed during the war, and performed life-saving brain surgery five times himself in a desert operating room.
He underwent knee surgery in 2008, then elbow surgery in 2009, all leading up to the 2010 shoulder operation.
However, they did find that women undergoing breast enhancement surgery were running extra risks - but mainly associated with the operation itself.
Neon had surgery in October after being diagnosed with a medulloblastoma brain tumour, but the judge ruled he should have further surgery after MRI scans showed a tumour nodule where the original operation was performed.
If a patient agrees to surgery, they could end up having either the traditional or new operation.
Psychologist Linda Papadopoulos said the growth may be linked to the fact that people who have had cosmetic surgery can reassure their partners if they too are considering having an operation.
应用推荐