Abdominal |surgery to treat obesity

 With obesity turning into a global epidemic, doctors the world over are looking to help those with severe weight problems reduce their size while promoting exercise and healthy eating habits.

There are serious health implications for the obese, defined as people with a BMI of 30 or more, among them hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, sleep apnoea and arthritis, as well as reduced mobility and life expectancy.

Abdominal surgery is a very effective treatment. It reduces the risk of developing health complications and is increasingly being recommended for those where diet control, exercise and weight reducing medications have been ineffective as well as for dieters who have piled on the kilos again after a successful weight reduction. 

Today’s surgical interventions are minimally invasive and use laparoscopic procedures. There are three methods.

 

- Gastric banding

In this procedure, a band is used to make the stomach smaller through small incisions made in the abdomen. The surgeon will place a band around the upper part of the stomach, thus reducing its size and making the patient feel full faster. This surgical procedure provides effective results. Once the body’s weight is stable, the surgical procedure can be reversed and the band can be removed.

 

- Sleeve Gastrectomy 

This is a weight loss procedure where 85 per cent of the stomach is removed thus reducing food intake as well as hunger, which is prompted by a hormone in the stomach. This is a popular procedure as it doesn’t involve incisions to the intestines and patients will not suffer from malnutrition. Patients are able to reduce 40-60 per cent of their weight within the first year of surgery. This procedure also treats other heath complications such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and blood pressure. There is no age restriction for this procedure, which can be performed on patients aged 15 and above.

 

- Gastric Bypass

This procedure involves cutting the stomach and the small intestine. A laparoscopy is used to cut and staple the stomach to reduce its size. 

A small part of the small intestine is connected to this reduced stomach, bypassing the rest of the stomach. This causes the food to pass through this bypass quickly, causing patients to eat less and their bodies to absorb fewer calories. 

It allows fast control of weight and is a permanent weight |loss procedure that cannot be reversed. It has been found that after this procedure, there has been a significant improvement in diabetes, hypertension, difficulty in breathing, and heart |disease,

 

Using Minimally Invasive Surgery for weight loss procedures keeps patients safe from complications that may arise in open abdominal surgeries.

 

Dr Narong Jarasviroj is a specialist in weight loss surgery at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, Call (02) 378 9242,(02) 378-9244 or email [email protected]