





Obesity surgeries are also called BARIATRIC SURGERY (baro=weight; -iatric = a branch of medicine).
The procedures used for treatment of obesity can be divided into four categories:
Gastric banding is the most common restrictive procedure. Commonly known as stomach stapling, it helps with weight loss by restricting the size of the entrance to stomach and providing an early feeling of fullness. Gastric banding procedure can be performed both laparoscopically or openly. Laparoscopic procedure is the ideal one.
Sleeve gastrectomy (reduction of the stomach into a tube) is another restrictive procedure. The stomach is reduced laparoscopically using special instruments. It is less simple than gastric banding. It is used as an alternative to the gastric banding in super morbid obese patients. Although it provides good outcomes, gastric volume may get enhanced over time from time to time, resulting in weight regain.
Recently wide use of gastric balloons help to decrease the amount of gastric space in order to restrict the amount of food that can be eaten. Gastric balloon procedure is difficult to comply with. In the first postoperative days or weeks, nausea and vomiting are common. There is a noteworthy number of patients who ask removal of the balloon before getting adjusted to it.
These procedures are not widely used anymore. In these procedures, the upper part of the small intestine is rerouted to allow food to reach the large intestine so that small intestine is bypassed. These procedures are no longer performed.
A common form of these procedures is gastric bypass surgery. It is one of the most efficacious methods used in morbid obesity surgery. However, it requires a very experienced team as it is a very complicated technique. It is an irreversible technique as flow direction of the stomach and intestines are intervened.
Such procedures are becoming widely accepted. The most known and common technique is the use of an adjustable prosthesis implanted on the fundus area of the stomach (ENDOGAST). It is much less discomforting to the patient compared to the balloon technique, where a balloon is swallowed into the stomach with fluid. Nausea and pain are the most common problems in patients who are treated with gastric balloon. These problems which are observed during the first adaptation period (complaints are reduced within 3 to 5 days although it may extend up to 2 weeks) are not experienced in gastric prosthesis. No complaints are observed as it is only 7 grams in weight. It is endoscopically placed and removed. It is the most commonly used procedure in our clinic.
Each method to be chosen has benefits and disadvantages.
The patient and the surgeon discuss the patient’s expectations from the operation, the method to be chosen and associated risks and come to a conclusion before the surgery.
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Group Florence Nightingale Hospitals Ltd UK 2020, all rights reserved.
Group Florence Nightingale Hospitals Ltd UK 2020, all rights reserved.