When dietary changes and exercises are not sufficient for bringing down the body weight of severely obese people, bariatric surgery is considered as the only option for facilitating weight loss. The surgery helps to reduce your daily food intake.
As a result, you will lose weight by eating less. However, despite the surgery, you cannot surrender your healthy eating habits and regular physical activities to maintain the normal body mass index.
Who is The Right Candidate For Bariatric Surgery?
Bariatric surgery is ideal for people with body mass index 30 and higher. However, in case of children, the body mass index should be 40 or more. In addition to morbid obesity, the person seeking surgery should be diagnosed with at least one obesity related health problem such as insulin resistant diabetes, cardiac problem or sleep apnea. Obese who have tried to lose weight through dietary and lifestyle modifications without any result can opt to lose weight with surgery.
Types of Bariatric Surgery
There are four main options of bariatric surgery – adjustable gastric banding, biliopancreatic diversion, gastric bypass surgery and vertical sleeve gastrectomy.
Adjustable Gastric Banding
Gastric banding is the safest and most popular bariatric surgery option. In this form of weight loss surgery, the stomach is squeezed into two sections with the help of an inflatable band. The smaller upper section and the larger lower section of the stomach are connected to each other through a small narrow channel.The upper section empties slowly following gastric banding, which reduces food intake. After the surgery, you will feel full after consuming a small amount of food.
Advantages
Gastric banding is a minimal invasive surgery. Therefore, the patient recovers rapidly after the surgery. The gastric band is adjustable, allowing the surgeon to make necessary modifications if needed in the future. The process is also reversible. The stomach returns to its normal shape after the band is removed.
Risks
However, in several cases gastric banding does not cause dramatic reduction in body weight. You may regain the lost weight after some years. Vomiting is a common side effect of gastric banding. It usually occurs by eating a large amount of food rapidly. The band may leak, become loose or slip from the stomach.
Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy
Almost 75 percent of the stomach is removed through sleeve gastrectomy. The remaining stomach resembles a narrow sleeve. Secretion of the hormone ghrelin falls dramatically following sleeve gastrectomy. Ghrelin triggers hunger.Decreased production of this hunger-stimulating hormone reduces appetite. Moreover, reduction in the size of the stomach causes significant reduction in food intake.
Advantages
Sleeve gastrectomy is more effective than gastric banding in reducing body weight. It is ideal for people who are severely obese. You may lose more than 50 percent of your body weight through this surgery. The surgical procedure does not involve the intestine. Therefore, nutrition absorption is not affected by sleeve gastrectomy.
Risk
This surgery is irreversible. Removing a large part of the stomach may cause serious side effects in the long-term. Blood clots and leakage of fluid from the sleeve are serious side effects of the surgery.
Gastric Bypass Surgery
In gastric bypass surgery, also known as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the stomach is divided into two parts. The lower part of the stomach is sealed from the upper part and connected directly to the lower part of the small intestine.The food therefore directly enters the lower part of the small intestine, bypassing parts of the stomach and the small intestine. As a result, the patient consumes fewer calories. Moreover, much less calories are absorbed in the digestive tract, which is now smaller than the original digestive tract.
Advantages
Gastric bypass surgery causes rapid reduction in the body weight. You can expect to loss 50 percent of your body weight within the first six months after the surgery. Health problems associated with obesity improves rapidly following the surgery. Gastric bypass surgery is not linked to serious long-term side effects.
Risks
By reducing food absorption, gastric bypass surgery increases the risk of malnutrition. Dumping syndrome, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating, fatigue and excess sweating are common side effects of the surgery. It also increases the risk of gallstones and hernia. The changes in the digestive tract are permanent, and cannot be reversed.
Biliopancreatic Diversion
This is a version of gastric bypass surgery involving removal of almost 70 percent of the stomach and bypassing of a larger portion of the small intestine.Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch is a version of biliopancreatic surgery where compared with the standard biliopancreatic diversion a smaller amount of the stomach is removed and a smaller portion of the small intestine is bypassed.
Advantages
This weight loss surgery supports faster weight loss than other forms of bariatric surgery. Over time, you can expect to lose 70 to 80 percent of your earlier body weight.
Risks
There is a higher risk of developing nutritional deficiency following the surgery. It can also cause dumping syndrome and hernia.
