Weight loss surgery, also referred to as a bariatric surgery, can be described as a surgery is one option of treatment for people who want to slim down. However, it is not a solution for everyone, but usually it is meant for people who are borderline obese or obese.
Common Types Of Weight Loss Surgeries:
When it comes to a decision about the actual type of weight loss surgery to be used, there are a couple of different surgical procedures that can be used.
1. Laparoscopic Gastric Banding (Lap-Band)
An inflatable band is placed around the upper stomach to create a small pouch and narrow passage into the remainder of the stomach. This limits food consumption and creates an earlier feeling of fullness. Once the band is in place, it is inflated with saline. The band is adjusted over time by increasing or decreasing the amount of salt solution to change the size of the passage. The band is intended for severely obese people — those at least 100 pounds overweight or who are at least twice their ideal body weight — who have failed to lose weight by other methods such as a supervised diet and exercise. The band is intended to remain in place permanently, but it can be removed if necessary. People who get the band will need to diet and exercise in order to maintain their weight loss. Complications may include nausea and vomiting, heartburn, abdominal pain, band slippage, or pouch enlargement.
2. Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RGB)
The surgeon makes the stomach smaller by using surgical staples to create a small stomach pouch. The pouch is attached to the middle part of a small intestine. Food bypasses the upper part of the small intestine and stomach and goes into the middle part of the small intestine through a small opening. Bypassing the stomach limits the amount of food a person can eat. By bypassing part of the intestine, the amount of calories and nutrients the body absorbs is reduced. The small opening slows down the rate food leaves the pouch. One risk for patients is “dumping syndrome.” This happens when the stomach contents move too rapidly through the small intestine. Symptoms may include nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, and diarrhea after eating. Side effects include infection, leaking, pulmonary embolism (sudden blockage in a lung artery), gallstones, and nutritional deficiency.
3. Biliopancreatic Diversion (BPD)
This procedure is not commonly used in the United States. A large part of the stomach is removed. The amount of food is restricted, in addition to stomach acid production. The small pouch that remains is connected directly to the final segment of the small intestine, completely bypassing other parts of the small intestine. A common channel remains in which bile and pancreatic digestive juices mix prior to entering the colon. Weight loss occurs since most of the calories and nutrients are routed into the colon where they are not absorbed. This procedure is less frequently used than other types of surgery because of the high risk for nutritional deficiencies. A variation of BPD includes a “duodenal switch,” which leaves a larger portion of the stomach intact, including the pyloric valve that regulates the release of stomach contents into the small intestine. It also keeps a small part of the duodenum.
4. Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG)
The vertical banded gastroplasty or VBG is a restrictive gastric (stomach) bypass surgery for weight loss surgery. The vertical banded gastroplasty for weight loss, along with the Roux en Y gastric bypass surgery, is one of the two major types of operations for the treatment of severe obesity. The goal of this procedure is to severely restrict the patient’s capacity to eat certain foods. The general or bariatric surgeon uses sophisticated surgical staples to make a small stomach pouch. This reduces how much food the stomach can hold. When the amount of food the stomach can hold is reduced, an obese person feels full sooner. But at the same time, the stomach digests nutrients and calories in a normal anatomical way. This is another common way to reduce how much food the stomach can hold. Vertical banded gastroplasty has an advantage by limiting only the amount of the food meal, and not affecting the absorption process involved in digestion.
5. Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastronomy
It is a restrictive procedure; by reducing the stomach capacity, the patient feels full after a small intake of food. Sleeve gastrectomy is a surgical weight-loss procedure in which the stomach is reduced to about 25% of its original size, by surgical removal of a large portion of the stomach, following the major curve. The open edges are then attached together (often with surgical staples) to form a sleeve or tube with a banana shape. The procedure permanently reduces the size of the stomach. The procedure is performed laparoscopically and is not reversible. It is done by means of laparoscopic techniques. These techniques involve the use of special instruments that are introduced through very small incisions that allow the area treated to be seen on a closed circuit monitor. The incisions that the surgeons make nowadays are of no more than 0.4 inches (1 cm); the surgical trauma they produce is much lower and the post surgical pain much more tolerable. Through these incisions, the surgeon can reach the stomach and, using a special stapler, he makes a vertical suture to divide the stomach in two. One of the sections is shaped like a tube that goes from the esophagus to the intestine. The other one is separated and removed. The staples used are very strong.
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