General Surgery · Metabolic and Weight Loss Center

Department Development History: In September 2017, Wang Chen, then president of the hospital, proposed establishing the China-Japan Friendship Hospital Weight-Loss and Diabetes Health Management Center, and the center’s construction and renovation project was officially launched. It was completed and put into operation in February 2019.

Department Staffing: The department is headed by Meng Hua, and the head nurse is Yao Lin. The center currently has six surgeons, two internal medicine physicians, one dietitian, two case managers, one exercise rehabilitation therapist, and other staff.

Outpatient and Inpatient Services: The department provides specialty outpatient clinics for weight-loss and diabetes surgery, minimally invasive hernia surgery, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and other conditions, as well as surgical treatment for male gynecomastia and abdominoplasty.

Clinical Features: The Department of General Surgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital · Metabolic and Bariatric Center (Weight-Loss and Diabetes Health Management Center) is the first clinical medical center in China to provide patients with obesity and diabetes with comprehensive diagnosis, integrated medical and surgical treatment, and lifestyle guidance. With the support of hospital leaders at all levels and the assistance of collaborating departments, Professor Meng Hua, as the center’s leader, has guided the medical staff in completing more than 7,000 metabolic and bariatric procedures, including symmetric three-port sleeve gastrectomy and symmetric three-port gastric bypass, while also providing related treatment such as laparoscopic abdominal wall hernia surgery, minimally invasive gastrointestinal tumor surgery, and treatment for gynecomastia. Professor Li Guangwei, the chief endocrinology expert at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, is a specially appointed professor at the center and a major participant in the Daqing Diabetes Prevention Study, a milestone in the primary prevention of diabetes worldwide. He has devoted more than 50 years to the study of diabetes reversal and treatment and is responsible for training young physicians and conducting rounds on difficult cases. The center has a comprehensive training and teaching system for visiting physicians, graduate students, and physicians in standardized residency training, and maintains extensive academic exchanges and clinical collaboration with numerous related departments, including Endocrinology, Cardiology, Nephrology, Nutrition, Respiratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture. The center specializes in laparoscopic metabolic and bariatric surgery using the symmetric three-port approach. Patients undergoing bariatric surgery for obesity and diabetes do not have urinary catheters, gastric tubes, or drains after surgery; two hours after surgery, they can get out of bed, drink water, and use the toilet, and they can be discharged within one to two postoperative days. The center has a dedicated dietitian who provides patients with nutritional management throughout the entire treatment process. Based on follow-up findings at each preoperative and postoperative stage, individualized nutritional intervention plans are developed, and weekly education is provided to guide dietary adjustments, helping patients recover safely, lose weight appropriately, and control blood glucose to achieve the best surgical results. Through collaboration with the hospital’s multidisciplinary team, the center has successfully completed the precise treatment of several hundred difficult cases of obesity and diabetes, including obesity complicated by nephrotic syndrome, chronic renal insufficiency, severe heart failure, and hyperlipidemic or autoimmune pancreatitis, as well as reoperations after metabolic and bariatric surgery performed at other hospitals, diabetes in patients with low body weight, Prader-Willi syndrome, and other special and difficult cases, earning unanimous recognition from patients and their families. At present, the center is a national leader in diabetes-related bariatric surgery in many areas, including medical weight-management plans, nutritional support therapy, acupuncture, rehabilitation, and the rational selection of different bariatric procedures. It has also established a multidisciplinary joint outpatient clinic for obesity and diabetes, laying a solid foundation for selecting individualized treatment plans, providing long-term lifestyle guidance, and conducting follow-up education for patients with diabetes and obesity.

Since the North Campus inpatient ward opened in June 2020, it has received widespread attention from all sectors of society. At present, more than 3,000 patients are scheduled for surgery and awaiting it,

Research Achievements: The center has conducted multiple clinical and basic research studies, participated in compiling the Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Obesity in Chinese Children and Adolescents, and published several SCI-indexed papers and other publications; in 2021 alone, it published five SCI-indexed papers and obtained two invention patents. At present, one provincial- or ministerial-level research project is underway. The center also actively conducts international exchanges, having organized more than ten in-person and online academic events and more than ten online live broadcasts of surgeries for professionals in the field. Its specialists have been invited to give dozens of special presentations at major international and domestic conferences. Members of the MDT team have organized more than ten public outreach activities through various media outlets, including China Central Television and Beijing Television, receiving widespread praise within the field and steadily increasing the center’s influence.

Teaching: Center Director Meng Hua serves as a doctoral supervisor at Capital Medical University and a graduate supervisor at Peking Union Medical College. He undertakes teaching in surgery, surgical infections, and related courses for undergraduate and graduate students at Capital Medical University and Peking University School of Medicine, receiving favorable comments from the schools and departments and students. In recent years, the center has admitted 30 graduate students specializing in surgery, all of whom successfully completed their studies. There are currently two doctoral students and one master’s student enrolled. After graduation, the students have each become key technical staff at their respective hospitals. Professor Meng Hua is currently recruiting postdoctoral fellows and welcomes talented people with professional aspirations to join the center. While carrying out demanding clinical work, the team studies the literature and discusses cases every week, follows cutting-edge developments in medicine and pharmaceuticals, and continuously improves its professional and technical capabilities. The center strengthens the development of its professional talent pipeline, setting a professional development direction and requirements for each physician to ensure that the structure of their knowledge remains in step with knowledgeable professionals at home and abroad. It has trained dozens of outstanding metabolic surgeons for institutions in the medical alliance, all of whom are now working independently in different regions.

Location Within the Hospital: The department’s outpatient clinic is located in Consultation Room 7 on the third floor of the Main Campus outpatient building and Consultation Room 206 in the International Department. The inpatient wards are located on the ninth floor of Building B in the North Campus and the first floor of Building L in the Main Campus.

Department Telephone Numbers: North Campus Ward: 010-84206620; North Campus Nurses’ Station: 010-84206572.