Robert Rutledge Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

I am not easily impressed by doctors having worked for them for years. When I went to the informational clinic given by Dr. Rutledge I was absolutely mesmerized. He spoke for about 4 hours and I never once looked at my watch. He made everything very easy to understand without talking "down" to us. He gave very direct and honest answers and did not try to minimize the risks involved with this surgery.

Dr. Rutledge has an office staff that are almost all his post ops so they know what you are going through. They are very warm and compassionate.

Dr. Rutledge is very busy and will not waste his time on people who are not willing to make the necessary changes after surgery. He requires that his patients do a lot of research and be fully informed about this surgery. You have to put together a "packet" of information and letters along with test results. You have to contact at least 10 of his post ops to ask them a list of questions. If you try to cut corners he will not approve you for surgery. At first I found it irritating that he required so much for approval but later on came to realize that everything he required made me a better patient with a greater chance for success. I learned so much from Dr. Rutledge.

He performed another kind of WLS for 15 years before creating the minimally invasive gastric by-pass (MGB) 4 years ago. He has done more weight loss surgeries than any other surgeon in the world. I admire and trust him totally. He cares about improving your quality of life.

Dr. Rutledge requires that you have a primary care physician for aftercare. This physician must send Dr. Rutledge a letter staing that they will take care of you post op before he will approve you for surgery. You must also send him monthly reports through email and he suggests a one year follow up in Statesville, NC.

Dr. Rutledge is a true professional who is
compassion and concerned about the
care of his patients. He is a skilled and
gifted surgeon who makes himself
available to all of his patients...night and
day.
His office staff is fluent in the surgery
process and keeps up with calls and
e-mails...they are great.
My impression of Dr. R. has never
waivered.
Dr. Rutledge is concerned about after
care and will do whatever it takes to
meet with you (no matter where you
live) by way of mini-conferences.

Dr. R. gives a complete list of after care
and vitamins etc. He expects all of his
patients to follow his advise and I have
every confidence that I will be safe and
healthy if I do.
He addresses the risks of the surgery
thoroughly.
I would rate him a 10.Surgical competence is
extremely important but being there is too.

Dr. Rutledge was just as I had heard he was,
friendly, compassionate, professional and very
willing to answer all your questions. Dr. Rutledge
is not only all of these things, but he is also
a very skilled surgeon. And for all these reasons
I decided to travel over 1100 miles to have my
surgery done by him. I have no regrets. Dr. Rutledge
is very concerned about his patients being educated
about the surgery and committed to a lifetime
of aftercare.
Dr. R's staff is great! They are friendly and very
willing to help in any way that they can. And they
have all had the surgery so they are more than
understanding about obesity and the surgery.
Anyone who decides to have surgery by Dr. Rutledge
will be more than pleased with his surgical competence
and his concern of his patients.

Dr. Rutledge is without a doubt the finest, most compassionate and brilliant Dr. I have ever met..I am so fortunate to have chosen him to do my Weight Loss Surgery..I had my surgery done 4/20/2000..I surpassed my goal by losing from 262 to 125..I have bounced back to 135 but that was my choice..I have been holding steady for about 8 months..If you have chosen Dr. Rutledge as your Surgeon be thankful, and do everything he says to do and before you know it you will be on the journey of a lifetime...I would rate him A++ and on a scale of 1-10, he gets a 12..Now don't let this go to your head Dr. R..I guess he is not perfect but you would have to ask his wife about that...He is just about perfect in my book..I can't think of a negative thing to say about the man..I have tried but just can't..This is my opinion only but if you read other statements you will see that it is also the opinion of over a thousand of his other patients..Don't want to get sued so remember this is my opinion only..

A great surgeon and a great man. Very caring, very interested in his patients. He gives his patients his cell phone number which he answers himself.
It just gets better.
They are very professional and knowledgeable. Each of the gals has had the surgery by Dr R so they know the problems and feelings we are going through. We also have each of their cell phone numbers. They are sometimes slow to return calls.
Have nothing bad to say about him.
Aftercare is very big with him. We see him at one week to take the staples out, at one month, three months and six months for checkups. Thereafter yearly. We e mail him monthly to let him know how we are doing.
He was very plain spoken about the risks of this surgery. He shared his statistics with us. And told us there was a chance of leakage or death.
I would give him the highest possible rating.
His surgical competence is outstanding as is his bedside manner. He was a trauma surgeon for 20 years. Has a great sense of humor.

I don't think there is a scale high enough to rate Dr. Rutledge and his staff.
He is very compassionate and caring.
Most of his staff has had WLS and know first hand how to answer our questions and they know what we are feeling.
He does make you work for your surgery by completing a extensive packet on the surgery and its effects...in other words, by the time you are thorough with the packet you know exactly whats going on.
I can honestly recomend him and his staff

Dr. Rutledge has you jump through hoops to work with him, but I wanted to have the laparoscopic surgery so I am going with him. The hoops force you to do the research so I was kind of glad that I had to go through it.

I have sent Dr. Rutledge my patient package and I should be getting a date soon. I have sent him some questions via e-mail and while his answers were quick they were also a little flippant. For example, I sent him a question about how many calories I should be taking in and his answer was "don't worry about it."

Now that I am post-op. I have to say that the reason Dr R is so quick with his answers is because about 1000 groupies email him every day. He treated me and my family with respect and compassion. Very glad I chose him.

It is now my two year anniversary with the MGB. I have lost a grand total of (drum roll please) 72lbs! I would say that Dr. Rutledge is a very charismatic individual, full of energy and able to sell ice water to eskimos. His statistics are biased and his surgery is NOT a weight loss surgery. There is no support for those individuals who have complaints, complications or criticism for the great Dr. Rutledge. Buyer Beware!

From the time I met Dr. Rutledge, he inspired confidence. I knew he had been a trauma surgeon for 20 years and I knew that he could handle any emergency that came along. I continue to marvel at his surgical skill and at his personal care for his patients. He was busy. But he was always accessible to me. In February of 2001 I had an acute hepatic episode which was originally thought to be a complication of my surgery. He was right there to treat me and to consult with my local Dr. It turned out not to have anything to do with my surgery and I appreciate his willingness to accept responsibility for something that was not even in his court and to help to solve it. I felt very prepared for surgery after having read his manual and after having attended a clinic. My contact with many post op patients added to the education I received before and after surgery. Although I would have been satisfied to have just surgical competence, I was rewarded by having had a great surgeon with a wonderful sense of humor and great caring for his patients. I would recommend Dr. Rutledge to anyone. And did. My daughter had surgery with him three months after me and a number of my friends have also.