IFSO

15/09/2026

IFSO Masters of MBS Academy:
👉"Diagnosis and Closure of Peterson's Space and Internal Hernia" by Shahab Shahabi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_JFVwNkOPU

NOT JUST WATCH BUT... CONTRIBUTE!
Submit your video and share your expertise!
More info on: https://ifso.com/masters-of-mbs/

15/09/2026

HURRY UP! ⏰

Only 2 weeks to submit your abstract for
📍 Manama, Bahrain
📅 3-5 December 2026
🔗 ifsomenac2026.com

15/09/2026

✨ IFSO‑APC Scholarships 2027 applications are now open!

Three scholarships available to support young IFSO APC members attending the next IFSO‑APC Meeting in Singapore, 31 March - 2 April 2027.

📅 Deadline: January 3rd, 2027
🔗 All details and application guidelines:https://www.ifso.com/pdf/ifso-apc-scholarships-2027.pdf

Good luck! 🤞

14/09/2026

Sometimes the most powerful proof is a patient's own words.

Before surgery, life meant a pile of pills every single day — medication for diabetes, medication for cholesterol, and constant monthly appointments.

"It changed so much. I have new energy, a whole new outlook," this patient shares. "People build the recovery up into something frightening, when really it only improves your quality of life. I'm so grateful."

METABOLIC BARIATRIC SURGERY is never just about weight. It's about giving people their health, their energy and their days back.

11/09/2026

📚 September Issue of Obesity Surgery Journal is out!
This month’s issue features an impressive collection of research addressing the evolving landscape of metabolic and bariatric surgery.

Highlights include:

🔄 Long-term outcomes after revisional and conversion procedures
💊 Cost-effectiveness of endoscopic therapies compared with sleeve gastrectomy and semaglutide
🩸 VTE prevention, anesthesia strategies, and perioperative safety
🧠 Emotional eating, ADHD, impulsivity, and alcohol-use risk
🧬 Reproductive health, metabolic changes, and micronutrient outcomes
🫀 Cardiac risk stratification and the role of muscle mass in older patients
♻️ Virtual patient education, enhanced recovery, and same-day discharge
🩺 Bariatric surgery before and after kidney transplantation
🔬 Emerging endoscopic techniques and device safety

From surgical innovation and long-term outcomes to behavioral health and integrated obesity care, this issue offers something for every member of the multidisciplinary bariatric team.

Which article are you reading first? 👀
https://link.springer.com/journal/11695/volumes-and-issues/36-9

11/09/2026

Good nutrition matters at every stage of the obesity journey — but for many people living with the disease, the body struggles to respond to food the way it should.

METABOLIC BARIATRIC SURGERY supports nutritional care by helping the body respond better to what it's given and creating new conditions for nutrition to truly work. It doesn't replace healthy eating — it makes healthy eating count.

Surgery and nutrition move forward together.

09/09/2026

Dear IFSO Family,

As I begin my term as President of IFSO, I want to share one simple message: this is our opportunity to shape the future of obesity care together.

Our field is changing rapidly. Advances in metabolic and bariatric surgery, obesity medications, bariatric endoscopy, robotics, technology, artificial intelligence, and multidisciplinary care are creating possibilities we could only imagine a few years ago. Rather than allowing these changes to divide our field, I believe they give us an extraordinary opportunity to bring it closer together.

My vision is for IFSO to become the global home of comprehensive obesity care, bringing together Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Obesity Medicine, Bariatric Endoscopy, and Integrated Health around one common purpose: improving the lives of people living with obesity.

Together, we can strengthen education, training, research, and global standards; embrace combination therapy; create practical tools for our members; expand opportunities for the next generation; responsibly incorporate innovation and AI; and strengthen collaboration among our Sections, Chapters, national societies, and partners.

Most importantly, we must amplify our global voice so that obesity care becomes a healthcare priority everywhere.

IFSO belongs to all of us. Our strength comes from our diversity, different professions, countries, healthcare systems, and perspectives all united by the same commitment to our patients.

I invite every member to participate, contribute ideas, collaborate, and help us build the next chapter of IFSO.

Let’s put obesity care on the top.

I am honored to serve you and excited about what we can accomplish together.

Jaime Ponce, MD
President, IFSO
International Federation for the Surgery and Other Therapies for Obesity

/PRNewswire/ -- Jaime Ponce, MD, FACS, FASMBS, FIFSO, officially assumed the presidency of the International Federation for the Surgery and Other Therapies for...

09/09/2026

09/09/2026

"Obesity medication or surgery — are they competing?"

At IFSO, we don't see it that way.

For many patients, medication alone may not be enough. When it falls short, METABOLIC BARIATRIC SURGERY becomes a real answer. For others, the path may begin with medication, with surgery considered at a later stage of care.

What matters most is understanding that obesity is a chronic disease — and its treatment is long-term, not a one-time fix. It's a lifelong journey, and the goal is finding the right combination of tools for each patient, at each stage.

Medication and surgery aren't rivals. They're partners in the same fight.

08/09/2026

Our message is clear: surgery must not be viewed merely as a rescue option after other treatments have failed. For appropriately selected patients,particularly those with established clinical obesity and significant metabolic, mechanical, or organ dysfunction,it remains a powerful, durable, and often primary treatment option.

The future is not surgery versus medication, but confident surgical leadership within coordinated, multimodal, and individualized obesity care. Our expertise will remain essential in shaping that future.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-026-02215-y.epdf?sharing_token=zlLWqgEvjnTfCkrVp9S7S9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MKtJ9k2lOrORtJAiou-zEbrPGBGIwcZjBXqj66kiDv0xYyXf-bpncJzNhV1Xo51vhhjAdXnAQUFWu2i8AOvcKBGIKa3t1-Lf2wxhpUYMWiihZwJcz_GLALGsjLc89z9_g%3D

Ricardo Cohen Paulina Salminen Jaime Ponce Gerhard Prager