Bariatric surgery in Georgia: candidacy, preparation and your diet after you return home

What does bariatric surgery mean for a patient coming from another country?

Bariatric surgery is the part of obesity treatment in which a surgeon reduces the size of the stomach or changes the route food takes, so that the body takes in or absorbs less food. The best-known options are sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass, but the choice of method depends on many factors, and the surgeon makes it together with you. The US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) stresses that after the operation a person has to change their eating and physical activity habits for good.

For an international patient this creates one important feature: the operation in Georgia takes a few days, while the result takes shape over months and years in your own country, where the Georgian surgeon will not be physically present. So a good plan starts not with the date of the operation but with a question: who will provide your follow-up care at home?

Who decides whether weight-loss surgery is right for me?

Candidacy is a medical assessment, and only the surgical team makes it. International recommendations consider body mass index (BMI) together with obesity-related conditions: according to NIDDK, for example, surgery may be considered for an adult with a BMI of 40 or more, or of 35 or more together with a serious obesity-related condition. Professional societies in different countries revise these thresholds from time to time, so we ask each team in writing which criteria it uses.

BMI is only one factor. The surgeon usually assesses:

• other conditions you have, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnoea or joint problems;
• previous attempts to lose weight, including treatment with medicines;
• previous abdominal operations, which change the surgeon's plan;
• your readiness for lifelong changes: diet, vitamins, regular check-ups.

After a preliminary review of your records, the clinic may agree, ask for further tests or tell you that surgery is not suitable for you at present. A negative answer is a sign of the clinic's responsibility, not an obstacle we are supposed to "get around". We neither screen patients in advance nor try to talk a clinic round.

Which records should you send us for a preliminary review?

If you are missing a record, start by sending us what you have. The clinic will tell you which tests should be done at home before you travel and which on site. Records are accepted in any language, and where needed we translate them into Georgian or English. How clinics are chosen and how records are sent only with your consent is explained on the clinic selection service page.

How does the organisation work with us?

In brief, the stages look like this: you send us your records, we check that they are complete, surgeons at several licensed clinics make a preliminary assessment of your case and offer you a plan and a price in writing. Once you have chosen, we arrange your travel, accommodation and interpreter; the clinic carries out the on-site assessment and, if the team confirms it, the operation itself. Finally, we translate your records for your own doctor and arrange your return. Each stage is described in detail on the full treatment coordination page.

For bariatric surgery, two things matter most. First, the length of your stay in Georgia: how many days you need to stay in hospital after the operation, and then in the city before you can fly, is decided by the surgeon. We recommend an open or easily changeable ticket, because the treating doctor confirms when you are fit to fly, and that date may move. Second, a companion: having someone close to you there in the first days makes many practical things easier, so their accommodation is planned together with yours.

What happens on site before the operation?

After you arrive, the clinic carries out a pre-operative assessment. The team decides what it includes: usually a consultation with the surgeon and the anaesthetist, laboratory tests and imaging, and in some cases a visit to an endocrinologist, a dietitian or a psychologist as well. Depending on the results, the surgeon may change the plan, postpone the operation or decline it. That is precisely why we ask the clinic in advance how much you will pay in that case and what is refunded from the deposit.

Before the operation you sign written informed consent: the Law of Georgia on Patient Rights requires written consent specifically for surgical operations. Under the same law, you have the right to information about the planned service, its risks and alternatives, and about who is providing the service and their experience. The law does not provide you with an interpreter, so if the consultation or the form is in a language you do not understand, we book a medical interpreter separately.

How we check the clinic

In Georgia an inpatient facility needs a permit, and some medical activities need a licence; the rules for issuing them are set by Government Resolution No. 385 of 2010. We are not aware of a public database where a patient could check a permit themselves. So we obtain a copy directly from the clinic, check that it covers the surgical profile, and send a written question about the surgeon's experience. We write about this in detail in our guide to choosing a clinic.

What does the clinic's quote cover, and what does it leave out?

Comparing the total amounts of two quotes is often a mistake: a lower price may simply include fewer items. We check each item of a bariatric quote separately:

Outside the clinic's bill are air tickets, accommodation, transfers, the interpreter's hours and our coordination fee, which is agreed separately, in writing, before work begins. The general structure is set out in our guide to costs and payment.

When you come for surgery, as on any other visit, you have needed a mandatory insurance policy since 2026: it must cover health and accidents from arrival to departure, with a limit of at least GEL 30,000. As a rule, this policy does not cover a planned operation or its complications. So ask the clinic separately whether it offers any insurance or guarantee terms for complications, and read what they actually mean.

After you return home: diet, vitamins and follow-up care

NIDDK's materials name three commitments for a bariatric surgery candidate: healthy eating and physical activity habits for life, medical follow-up, and taking extra vitamins and minerals. They also state that if the body cannot absorb enough nutrients, especially when prescribed vitamins are skipped, anaemia or osteoporosis may develop. Among the early risks of the operation they list bleeding, infection and leakage from the staple line.

All of this needs to be planned before you leave:

• A local doctor. Find a family doctor or endocrinologist at home who agrees to follow you up after the operation and order your tests.
• A dietitian. After the operation your diet changes in stages, from liquids to ordinary food. Ideally, a specialist who speaks your language should guide you through these stages.
• A written plan from the clinic. You should have the discharge summary, the diet stages, the vitamin prescriptions and the schedule of follow-up tests in a language your doctor understands; we arrange discharge summary translation for this.
• Contact with the Georgian surgeon. Agree how, and how quickly, the team will answer your doctor if they have a question.
• Warning signs. At discharge, ask which symptoms mean you should go straight to a local hospital rather than seek a remote consultation.

In the first days, until you are cleared to fly, help from a nurse or caregiver can also be arranged at your accommodation; this is part of our care after surgery service.

Frequently asked questions about bariatric surgery in Georgia