### What you need to know
Until this year, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) had recommended bariatric surgery as a treatment option for people with a body mass index (BMI, weight (kg)/(height (m)2) of ≥40, or with a BMI of 35-39.9 with a significant obesity-related comorbidity, only if all non-surgical interventions had been tried first and the person was receiving management in a tier 3 service. New NICE guidelines now recommend that these groups of people should be offered a comprehensive assessment for bariatric surgery without the requirement for all non-surgical interventions to have been tried first, or for patients to already be under the management of a tier 3 service. The guidelines also provide an evidence-based list of significant health conditions that can be improved by bariatric surgery, which will help clinicians make decisions about who to offer an assessment to, and recommendations on what the assessment for surgery should include.
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