What Patients See Before They See the Surgeon: Bariatric Surgery on TikTok

Background TikTok is a rapidly growing audiovisual social media platform and an emerging source of health information, including bariatric surgery content that may influence patients’ expectations before consultation with clinicians. This study aimed to characterize the engagement patterns and themes of bariatric surgery-related TikTok videos to inform clinical practice. Methods A comprehensive search identified the 10 most frequently used bariatric-related hashtags on TikTok. For each, the 10 most liked videos (n = 100) were extracted. Videos were included if they contained English, Spanish, or Portuguese content referencing bariatric surgery. Quantitative engagement metric analysis and qualitative thematic analysis were performed. Results Most videos were created by patients (92%) and most creators were female (83%). Content was overwhelmingly positive (79%) and focused primarily on vertical sleeve gastrectomy (61%), with limited representation of alternative procedures. No videos meaningfully discussed risks or differences between surgical options. The most common themes included body image and identity (59%), often with before and after images, and lifestyle adaptation (19%). Educational and promotional content was significantly longer (74.8 seconds, Kruskal-Wallis test: P = 0.002) without a statistically significant difference in engagement. Discussion Bariatric surgery content on TikTok is characterized by patient-generated, visually driven narratives that emphasize transformation and empowerment, with limited discussion of risks or procedural complexity. These findings suggest TikTok may shape narrow perceptions of bariatric surgery for patients. Clinicians should address social media-shaped expectations when counseling patients and use short-form, visually engaging, and patient-partnered content when posting educational content on TikTok to enhance engagement.