Saturday, May 14, 2016

Important Facts On Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery Houston Residents Should Know

By Andrew Miller


Bariatric surgery is a term that is given to all the surgical procedures that are used to achieve weight loss. These options are helpful when lifestyle options have failed to yield the desired results. There are three main forms of operations that fall under this category. These include sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass and lap band gastric surgery. There are a number of things on bariatric weight loss surgery Houston residents need to know.

Gastric banding is the most preferred of the three options. One of the reasons why this is so is the fact that it is the only one that is reversible. This is because no form of cutting is done on the stomach. The other major advantage it has is that the side effects are few and fairly easy to control. In the procedure, an instrument known as a laparoscope is used to place a silicon band on the stomach so as to reduce its size.

Modern methods of doing the operations have incorporated the use of minimal access. The laparoscope has been central to this shift. The advantages that arise from this kind of techniques are numerous. They include, fewer complications, faster recovery times and less prominent scars in the long term. In lap band procedures, the common complications include vomiting, nausea and infections.

Sleeve gastrectomy is a more invasive option. It involves the shaping of a stomach onto a sleeve (or tubular shape) by resecting it along its length. As much as 80% of the operation can be removed leaving just a small pouch. The significance of this is that there is a huge reduction in the amount of food that can be held at a given time. This type of operation can also be performed through laparoscopy.

Other than the reduction in the amount of food that is consumed (due to faster filling and early satiety), weight loss also occurs due to a reduction in the transit time of food. Reduced transit time means that there is very little time available for the absorption of nutrients. Most of what is absorbed is used to generate energy rather than for storage as fat or protein. Weight loss will be seen after a few weeks.

Leakage of food through the incision site on the stomach and bleeding are the most commonly encountered side effects related to sleeve gastrectomy. A corrective surgical operation may be needed in the case of leakage. Other possible complications are vomiting, esophageal spasms, vague nerve injury and deep venous thrombosis among others. Even with the risk of these complications, the demand for this procedure has continued to increase over time.

Gastric bypass is very radical and rarely performed. It is mainly done when a disease process affects the liver and the gall bladder and there is a need to divert the flow of bile. There are two main steps involved. The first is the removal of the lower part of the stomach which reduces its size significantly. The second step is the joining of the upper part to the intestines. Malabsorption of nutrients is the most feared complication here.

You need to talk to your doctor to see whether any other options of weight loss can be used in your case before you decide to have surgery. It is only after the non-surgical options have proven ineffective that surgical operations should be considered. There is a need to make lifestyle changes after the operation so as to maximize on the benefits.




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