BARIATRIC SURGERY

Bariatric surgery is a surgical procedure to reduce or bypass the stomach, which helps to change the body’s digestive processes. In fact, bariatric surgery is a modern, effective and absolutely safe method of treatment for obesity and metabolic disorders.

After bariatric surgery, the patient begins to eat much less food, and within 1 to 3 years loses up to 80% of excess weight. If your body index is above 33, then it’s time for you to think about bariatric surgery. You can do this with high quality and at an affordable price by contacting the best laparoscopist surgeons in Armenia.

In general, bariatric surgery could be an option for you if:

  • Your body mass index (BMI) is 40 or higher, called extreme obesity.
  • Your BMI is 35 to 39.9, called obesity, and you have a serious weight-related health problem, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or severe sleep apnea.

Types of bariatric operations

Gastric sleeve

In gastric sleeve surgery, also called vertical sleeve gastrectomy, a surgeon removes most of your stomach, leaving only a banana-shaped section that is closed with staples. The surgery reduces the amount of food that can fit in your stomach, making you feel full sooner. Taking out part of your stomach may also affect hormones or bacteria in the gastrointestinal system that affect appetite and metabolism. This type of surgery cannot be reversed because some of the stomach is permanently removed.

 

Adjustable gastric band

In this type of surgery, the surgeon places a ring with an inner inflatable band around the top of your stomach to create a small pouch. Like gastric sleeve and gastric bypass surgery, the gastric band makes you feel full after eating a small amount of food. The inner band has a circular balloon inside that is filled with saline solution. The surgeon can adjust the inner band to resize the opening from the pouch to the rest of your stomach by injecting or removing the saline solution through a small device, called a port, that is placed under your skin.

After surgery, you will need several follow-up visits to adjust the size of the band opening. If the band causes problems or is not helping you lose enough weight, the surgeon may remove it.

Today, adjustable gastric band surgery is less commonly performed in the United States, compared with the gastric sleeve or gastric bypass, because it is associated with more complications, predominantly the need for band removal due to intolerance.5 Gastric band surgery also typically results in significantly less weight loss and is associated with more complications, predominately the need for band removal due to intolerance.

Gastric bypass

Gastric bypass surgery, also called Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, is done in three steps. First, the surgeon staples your stomach, creating a small pouch in the upper section. The staples make your stomach much smaller, so you eat less because you feel full sooner.

Next, the surgeon divides your small intestine into two parts and attaches the lower part directly to the small stomach pouch. Food will bypass most of your stomach and the upper part of your small intestine, so your body absorbs fewer calories.

The surgeon then reconnects the upper part of the small intestine to a new location farther down on the lower part of the small intestine. This allows digestive juices in the stomach to flow from the bypassed part of the small intestine to the lower part of the small intestine, so that food can be fully digested. The bypass changes hormones, bacteria, and other substances in the gastrointestinal tract that may affect appetite and metabolism. Gastric bypass is difficult to reverse, although a surgeon may do it if medically necessary.