Tijuana, Mexico has established itself as a major player in medical tourism for weight loss surgery. Thousands of patients worldwide who suffer from obesity and its related diseases are traveling to Tijuana to take advantage of affordable bariatric procedures.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported some incidences of infections occurred among Americans who had received medical procedures, especially weight-loss surgeries, in Mexico. Most of the cases have occurred in patients who were lured to inferior medical tourism companies with cut-rate surgery packages.
The Mexican government authorities have already taken action regarding the CDC report and closed the Grand View Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, where most of the infections happened. The hospital offered one of the lowest weight loss surgery packages ($3,599) in Mexico.
Instances of this Rare Antibiotic Infection
Infections caused by this particular drug-resistant strain of Pseudomonas are difficult to treat. Patients typically require long and “complex antibacterial drug combinations and courses” to defeat the infection. The patients who used that bariatric surgery hospital facility may be at risk for other infections like Hepatitis B/C or HIV, but having a Pseudomonas bacterial infection does not increase a patient’s risk of having viral infections.
According to CDC, an estimated 51,000 healthcare-associated P. aeruginosa infections occur in the United States each year, with 6,700 of the cases are Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas infections, leading to roughly 400 deaths. As it is clear, the MDR infections acquired in Mexico is rare compared to other parts of the world, including the United States.
Why These Infections Occur
1. The patient needs to have an extremely low immune system with a large, open wound. Also, the environment has to be heavily contaminated for this infection to enter the body.
2. The clinics that are not regulated and:
- Reuse airway tubes, intravenous (IV) solution tubes,
- Operate two patients simultaneously in the same operating room,
- Use material and syringes for several patients,
- No proper sterilization of instruments and equipment,
- No routine deep cleaning of the Tijuana bariatric clinic,
- No routine bacteria sampling from the operating room.
3. The surgeon also plays a major factor in this as the material they use and their level of expertise. Surgeons need to be certified and vetted with proper education and experience. The material they use is also of prime importance as some surgeons buy off-brand surgery materials from the black market often not factory-sealed.
Why Mexico Bariatric Center Has Close to Zero Infection Rate
For most people, Tijuana is the biggest thing that has happened to health care in many years. Patients can now afford to have life-changing weight loss surgery for a fraction of the cost in their own country. However, patients must do their research and find affordable companies with excellent track records who do not cut corners to offer the most affordable packages. Find a hospital or facility that has high-quality standards.
At Mexico Bariatric Center (MBC), we offer the most budget-friendly prices with quality in mind. The surgeons working with MBC offer the utmost care for patients. They are certified with thousands of bariatric surgeries under their belts. They only use brand-name factory-sealed materials and instrumentation. MBC uses a bariatric-specialized hospital, Hospital Mi Doctor, with over a decade of experience with nurses and staff expertise in this field.
See the Factors to Consider Before Choosing Bariatric Facility or Surgery Center in Mexico
References
- https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/drug-resistant-infections-mexico
- https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/10/health/mexico-surgery-antibiotic-resistant-infection-cdc/index.html?no-st=1547158250
- Impact of Coronavirus on Medical Tourism
I am a nurse anesthetist. I work in the operating room in Kentucky in the US. I had surgery here in January 2015. My insurance wouldn’t approve me to have it and the hospitals here wanted $15-20,000 cash prior to surgery. I found one place in Texas for $12,000 but I had to make two separate trips there before surgery for texting and appointments. I started looking into cheaper alternatives. I researched intensely for six months. I found Dr Valenzuela via some outside message boards and other places. I contacted six people who had been there for surgery, they all had good things to say and had done well, I followed people on these chat rooms who had been there. They ranged from preop to years out. I investigated the credentials of the surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and hospitals in Mexico. I decided to do it. In my mind if I got there and wasn’t comfortable I was coming home without surgery. Mexico Bariatric Center was wonderful. I have a trained eye being a nurse for 26 years. I watched everything closely. I was never wary. I had a great experience here. Everything and everyone was professional and clean. As a matter of fact they clean constantly, more than what Ive seen in my years of nursing here in the US. Everyone wears gloves all the time and there is constant hand washing. Their education requirements for nursing entry are higher than here. I have recommended MBC since then. I know it is scary to go to another country but this is a very professional hospital and the whole process of scheduling and pick up and care before during and after is stellar. I was more satisfied with my care there than the care I had at my own hospital when I had a gastric band. Its unfortunate that Mexico has a bad reputation for surgeries. This is not the case with MBC I assure you.