Obesity is a disease that may occur at any age. A sedentary lifestyle, binge eating and other health issues have led to an overblown epidemic in the twenty-first century. People, unable of getting rid of kilos unaided, can use bariatric surgery, or, to be more exact – undergo the weight loss surgery procedure.
Weight loss surgery is not liposuction or abdominoplasty, which removes esthetic outcomes of an issue. In bariatrics, doctors deal with organs of the digestive system, their aim is to terminate obesity progression, help a patient to lose weight, and get rid of comorbidities.
Bariatric surgeons work towards three goals:
- They reduce the capacity of a stomach top region, so that a patient starts sensing satiety rapidly and cannot down large portions. Examples: placement of an intragastric balloon, gastric banding.
- They reduce food absorption, for example, as a part of the biliopancreatic diversion.
- They performed combined operations for reducing stomach capacity surgically and absorption. An example: gastric bypass surgery.
More about the types of bariatric surgery
Intragastric balloon placement
Orally, using the endoscope, a surgeon places a deflated silicone balloon, filled with the harmless fluid. A patient is physically unable to eat large portions since.
The technique is used for any type of obesity, including morbid obesity, as a preparation for the reduction of stomach capacity surgically.
Duration: up to 30 min.
Pros:
- Preventing overnutrition;
- The procedure does not require anesthesia;
- No punctures, sutures and long-term rehabilitation;
- Minimal health risk.
Cons:
- Nausea, discomfort due to a foreign body is possible in the early days after placing the balloon;
- Weight gradually returns after removing the balloon, if a patient does not change his/her eating habits;
- Not more than 10-15% of excess weight fades away, so there is no reason to expect impressive outcomes.
Sleeve gastrectomy
As a part of bariatric surgery the distended side part of the organ, producing ghrelin, the “hunger hormone” in other words, is removed. A tube, 1 1.5 cm in diameter and a volume of 60-80 ml, is formed. It is used for the treatment of morbid obesity in case of a life-threatening BMI > 40 kg/m2, and helps to get rid of its complications.
Duration: 1-2.5 hours.
Pros:
- High effectiveness – a patient losses 50-61% of excess body weight averagely;
- Considerable reduction in the organ capacity;
- Preventing overnutrition;
- No re-intervention is required, unlike gastric banding or balloon placement.
Cons:
- The procedure is irreversible;
- Complications, taking place during surgery (bleeding) or rehabilitation (suture breakage).
Gastric bypass
This type of weight loss surgery is a combined approach – reducing the size of the organ and food absorption.
A bariatric surgeon forms the stomach of up to 30 ml in capacity and connects it with the middle part of the small bowel. The other large part of the organ, duodenum and the part of the small bowel still remain since, but no longer participate in digestion. For this reason, a patient eats less and food is absorbed less.
Duration: 2-4 hours.
Pros:
- Is considered a gold standard in obesity treatment;
- Excellent and long-lasting outcome – a patient gets rid of 65-70% of excess weight;
- A patient consumes less food;
- The operation is reversible.
Cons:
- Complications, taking place during surgery (bleeding) or rehabilitation (suture breakage).
- Dumping syndrome is possible;
- Lifelong vitamin intake;
- The necessity for lifelong vitamin intake at high doses.
Gastric banding
This technique of reducing stomach capacity for weight loss is easy to perform, which is the reason bariatric surgeons fell in love with it all at once, although it leads to multiple complications as well. Nowadays, gastric banding is mostly performed in Australia, in other countries other types of bariatric surgery are preferred.
During the operation, the ring is placed on the stomach, dividing it into two parts. When a person eats, the upper part of the organ, approximately 50 ml in volume, fills up instantly; the sensation of satiety is experienced.
Duration: 30-40 min.
Pros:
- This type of weight loss surgery is reversible – the ring can be removed;
- Rapidly emerging sensation of satiety;
- After taking down the object, organs of the digestive system recover their shape.
Cons:
- Surgical intervention is required on two different occasions: for the placement and removing;
- High risk of postoperative complications (erosions, ulcers);
- The ring can slide, increasing the capacity of the “small” part of the organ;
- Ring-composing substance allergy;
- Discomfort due to a foreign object inside the body.
Bariatric surgery in Kyiv
You can have a thorough medical check, diagnose obesity and get a medical advice from an experienced bariatric surgeon in our Metabolic Surgery Center. Andrian Reiti, Chief Surgeon at Metabolic Surgery Center, operates on patients.
