Dr. Higa graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine in 1983. He is board certified in general surgery. After completing his residency training in 1988, he served as Chief of Vascular Surgery at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fresno. In 1990, he entered private practice but has continued to devote a large amount of his time to teaching while also serving as Chief of Surgery for Community Medical Centers as well as Saint Agnes Medical Center. Dr. Higa has performed open bariatric surgical procedures since the early 1990s. He and his partner Dr. Boone performed the first laparoscopic gastric bypass in the Central Valley in 1998. The two also pioneered the current technique used by many surgeons throughout the world. He and Professor Paul O’Brien from Australia performed the very first adjustable gastric band in Fresno. Dr. Higa specializes in difficult and challenging cases, including revision bariatric surgery. He serves as associate editor for many peer-reviewed journals and has authored many original articles and book chapters regarding bariatric surgery and complication management. In addition to his title of clinical professor of surgery at the University of California San Francisco – Fresno Medical Education Program, Dr. Higa has been appointed to the National Faculty for Bariatric Surgery by the American College of Surgeons. He is also past president for the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and continues to chair many international conferences devoted to bariatric surgery.
Selected publications from PubMed
The functional lumen opening with self-forming magnetic anastomosis (FLOWS) study: results from the North American pivotal trial.
Teixeira A, Seger M, De la Cruz Munoz N Jr, Portenier D, Ma P, Ghanem M, Englehardt R, Felinski M, Higa K, Neto MG, Shah SK
Surg Endosc. 2026 Sep;40(9):8201-8209 doi: 10.1007/s00464-026-13211-8.
Reversal of Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: A Multi-Centric Analysis of Indications, Techniques, and Surgical Outcomes.
Plath L, Vannijvel M, Okkema S, Deleus E, Lloyd A, Lo Menzo E, Tadros G, Raguz I, San Martin A, Kraljević M, Mantziari S, Frey S, Gensthaler L, Sammalkorpi H, García Galocha JL, Sujathan V, Zapata A, Tatarian T, Wiggins T, Bardisi ES, Goreux JP, Seki Y, Kasama K, Himpens J, Hollyman M, Welbourn R, Aggarwal R, Beekley A, Sepulveda M, Torres A, Juuti A, Salminen P, Prager G, Iannelli A, Suter M, Peterli R, Boza C, Rosenthal R, Higa K, Lannoo M, Hazebroek E, Pring C, Hawkins W, Slater G, Dillemans B, Bueter M, Gero D
Obes Surg. 2025 Feb;35(2):471-480 doi: 10.1007/s11695-024-07650-2.
Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeon Criteria-An International Experts' Consensus.
Kermansaravi M, Chiappetta S, Shikora SA, Musella M, Kow L, Aarts E, Abbas SI, Aly A, Aminian A, Angrisani L, Asghar ST, Bashir A, Behrens E, Billy H, Boza C, Brown WA, Caina DO, Carbajo MA, Chevallier JM, Clapp B, Cohen RV, Jazi AHD, De Luca M, Dilemans B, Fried M, Gagner M, Neto MG, Garneau PY, Gawdat K, Ghanem OM, Al Hadad M, Haddad A, ElFawal MH, Herrera MF, Higa K, Himpens J, Husain F, Kasama K, Kassir R, Khoursheed M, Khwaja H, Kristinsson JA, Kroh M, Kurian MS, Lakdawala M, LaMasters T, Lee WJ, Madhok B, Mahawar K, Mahdy T, Almomani H, Melissas J, Miller K, Neimark A, Omarov T, Palermo M, Papasavas PK, Parmar C, Pazouki A, Peterli R, Pintar T, Poggi L, Ponce J, Prasad A, Pratt JSA, Ramos AC, Rezvani M, Rheinwalt K, Ribeiro R, Ruiz-Ucar E, Sabry K, Safadi B, Shabbir A, ShahabiShahmiri S, Stenberg E, Suter M, Taha S, Taskin HE, Torres A, Verboonen S, Vilallonga R, Voon K, Wafa A, Wang C, Weiner R, Yang W, Zundel N, Prager G, Nimeri A
Obes Surg. 2024 Sep;34(9):3216-3228 doi: 10.1007/s11695-024-07395-y.
Current recommendations for procedure selection in class I and II obesity developed by an expert modified Delphi consensus.
Kermansaravi M, Chiappetta S, Parmar C, Shikora SA, Prager G, LaMasters T, Ponce J, Kow L, Nimeri A, Kothari SN, Aarts E, Abbas SI, Aly A, Aminian A, Bashir A, Behrens E, Billy H, Carbajo MA, Clapp B, Chevallier JM, Cohen RV, Dargent J, Dillemans B, Faria SL, Neto MG, Garneau PY, Gawdat K, Haddad A, ElFawal MH, Higa K, Himpens J, Husain F, Hutter MM, Kasama K, Kassir R, Khan A, Khoursheed M, Kroh M, Kurian MS, Lee WJ, Loi K, Mahawar K, McBride CL, Almomani H, Melissas J, Miller K, Misra M, Musella M, Northup CJ, O'Kane M, Papasavas PK, Palermo M, Peterson RM, Peterli R, Poggi L, Pratt JSA, Alqahtani A, Ramos AC, Rheinwalt K, Ribeiro R, Rogers AM, Safadi B, Salminen P, Santoro S, Sann N, Scott JD, Shabbir A, Sogg S, Stenberg E, Suter M, Torres A, Ugale S, Vilallonga R, Wang C, Weiner R, Zundel N, Angrisani L, De Luca M
Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 11;14(1):3445 doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-54141-6.
Defining Global Benchmarks in Elective Secondary Bariatric Surgery Comprising Conversional, Revisional, and Reversal Procedures.
Gero D, Vannijvel M, Okkema S, Deleus E, Lloyd A, Lo Menzo E, Tadros G, Raguz I, San Martin A, Kraljević M, Mantziari S, Frey S, Gensthaler L, Sammalkorpi H, Garcia-Galocha JL, Zapata A, Tatarian T, Wiggins T, Bardisi E, Goreux JP, Seki Y, Vonlanthen R, Widmer J, Thalheimer A, Kasama K, Himpens J, Hollyman M, Welbourn R, Aggarwal R, Beekley A, Sepulveda M, Torres A, Juuti A, Salminen P, Prager G, Iannelli A, Suter M, Peterli R, Boza C, Rosenthal R, Higa K, Lannoo M, Hazebroek EJ, Dillemans B, Clavien PA, Puhan M, Raptis DA, Bueter M
Ann Surg. 2021 Nov 1;274(5):821-828 doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005117.
Welcome & Introduction - Dr. Kelvin Higa (USA) Maximize device performance with Reload Optimization - Dr. Kelvin Higa (USA) Bariatric Revision Surgery being most unpredictable and Challenging Tissue/Patient Factors - Dr. Joe Northup (USA) Discussion and closing remarks - All faculty moderated by Dr. Kelvin Higa (USA)
With Johnson & Johnson MedTech
Published
Jan 2023
Bariatric surgery remains the most effective and durable weight loss method available to patients. However, a significant percentage of patients may regain weight resulting in frustration, depression, and return of obesity-related co-morbidities. Revision surgery is the one of the treatment modalities for such weight regained patients. The more you do bariatric surgery, the more you need to prepare for revision surgery.
With Johnson & Johnson MedTech
Published
Sep 2022
Obesity remains a significant disease around the world. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment to help promote weight loss and management of weight-related comorbidities. However, there are patients who need more than one procedure to manage these issues or they experience side effects. This session will focus on revisional or conversional bariatric surgery and surgical management of chronic complications. Our faculty will offer insights into the management of these complex patients.
With Medtronic
Published
May 2022
Technique Description: Standard Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Young female with 45 kg/m2 BMI, GERD and PCOS. Procedures Steps: Entry and exploration Creation of Roux Creation of gastric pouch Hand-sewn gastro-jejunostomy Learning Points: If it looks hard, you are doing something wrong Think about the next guy Shortcuts rarely work Improvise, overcome and adapt Common sense trumps expert opinion
Published
Nov 2021
Dr. Kelvin Higa MD, FACS, FASMBS Clinical Professor of Surgery, UCSF - Fresno Medical Education Program
With Johnson & Johnson MedTech
Published
Mar 2021
Weight regain or inadequate weight loss after gastric bypass represents one of the most challenging problems in revisional bariatric surgery. Pouch and/or stoma reduction has little to offer, except for short-term and minimal results. Operative revision of the gastric pouch is associated with 3-5 times the incidence of leak and other post-operative complications. Separating behavioral and biologic causes for weight regain is difficult and there are no biochemical measurements available to assist in this important differentiation. A subjective, but consistent tool uses the symptoms of the disease, i.e., hunger and satiation as a surrogate for biological food and calorie acquisition as opposed to psychologic eating. Therefore, taking advantage of the increased metabolic response of the distal type 1 bypass can provide a better response and safer revision than working on the pouch.
With Johnson & Johnson MedTech
Published
Feb 2019
Help your network discover Dr. Kelvin Higa's clinical expertise.
