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Thursday, 5 May 2016

Basics Relating To Gastric Banding And Sleeve Gastrectomy

By Martha Foster


Lifestyle changes are highly recommend as ways of losing weight and remaining healthy. Unfortunately, these two are not effective in everyone and there is often a need for other options. Surgical weight loss procedures such as gastric banding and sleeve gastrectomy have increased in popularity in New York in recent years due to their effectiveness and safety profile. The two are types of bariatric surgery.

The two types of procedures are restrictive surgeries. This means that they reduce the size of the stomach which effectively reduces the amount of food that it can hold. Persons who have had the procedures begin to have early satiety which reduces their food intake. Over time, they begin to lose weight since most of the food that is eaten is used to provide energy and very little, if any, is stored as fat.

Gastric banding involves the placement of a silicon band on the fundus (upper part) of the stomach. The band exerts a squeeze in this region effectively converting the organ into a small pouch with an outlet capable of holding just an ounce of food. This procedure is done using laparoscopy which has a number of advantages over conventional (open) surgical operations. They include, smaller incisions, less bleeding and less prominent scars.

The band is usually connected to the skin using a small plastic tube. This helps the surgeon (and the patient) to exert some control over the band. By injecting or removing saline (or water) into this tube, the pressure that is exerted on the stomach can be increased or reduced as desired. An increase in the squeeze may be needed if the rate of weight loss is too slow. A reduction may be needed, on the other hand, if there are adverse side effects of the operation.

The results of this operation vary from one individual to another. The procedure is safe for the most part but there are some possible side effects that you need to be aware of. Those that are experienced commonly include vomiting, nausea, minor bleeding and wound infection. Small adjustments to the tightness of the band usually control the nausea and vomiting.

In sleeve gastrectomy, a large part of the stomach is removed with the remainder being between 20 and 25% of the original. The longitudinal resection (cutting) leaves a tubular structure which looks like a banana. The benefits of this operation are mainly twofold: reduced stomach capacity and increased transit time of consumed food. This means that food has less time to be absorbed.

Sleeve gastrectomy has been approved for use in children and adolescents. Studies show that it has no negative effects on the growth of children. Possible complications of this procedure include leakage of food, nausea, aversion to food, infections and esophageal spasms. Over time, the stomach may dilate but not significantly. It is important to remember that unlike the banding procedure, the sleeve procedure is irreversible.

The two bariatric operations are usually done as day cases. You can home on the same day that you are operated. One can resume their daily routine within 24 to 48 hours. The general advice is that one remains on light diet consisting of mashed up foods and liquids for at least two weeks. Soft foods and the regular diet follow thereafter.




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