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Some Facts Relating To Gastric Sleeve Surgery Houston Residents Need To Know Of

By Jessica Wood


Losing excess weight is by no means an easy undertaking. Bariatric surgeries have now been adopted widely as an option for weight loss. There are several types of these operations that exist. They include gastric banding, bypass and sleeve gastrectomy. Each of them is associated with a number of advantages and disadvantages. If they have intentions of undergoing gastric sleeve surgery Houston residents need to be aware of a number of things in mind.

Sleeve gastrectomy may be used on its own or as part of the bypass procedure. The procedure itself involves the removal of a significant part of the stomach. The organ is first split along its length, the unwanted part removed and the remainder repaired using stitches or staples. Generally, the part that is removed is between 75% and 80% leaving behind a small tubular structure that can hold a limited amount of food.

The objective of performing this operation is to reduce the amount of food that an individual can consume in one sitting. With the small stomach size, there is faster filling and hence early satiety. The removal of a large section also means that the amount of gastric hormones that are released from the stomach lining will be markedly reduced. Appetite is thus reduced and the levels of glucose in the blood maintained within fairly normal ranges.

Most of the people who undergo the operation have impressive outcomes. The proportion of excessive weight lost within 6 months to one year approaches 50% if it is done successfully. This effect is similar to what would be achieved with gastric bypass but the advantage is that the unpleasant side effects of bypass are avoided. Another major advantage of gastrectomy is that the stomach innervation is spared and so are the valve mechanisms.

There are two main techniques that are employed: the open technique and the laparoscopic surgical option. The use of laparoscopy is by far, the more preferred options due to its many advantages over the open technique. One of these advantages is the fact that smaller incisions are used hence the resultant pain is a lot less. There is a lower risk for infection and patients generally have a quicker recovery.

There is a criteria that is used in selecting candidates to undergo the operation. One of them is the fact that they should have tried out lifestyle changes first. This is not a must but more of a general recommendation. The body mass index should ideally be 40 or more except in cases where the individual already suffers from weight related complications such as hypertension and sleep apnea.

There are a number of risks to this operation that exist. The more general risks include, the likelihood of excessive bleeding, injury to internal organs and infections. The more specific complications may include, for instance, leakage of food through the surgical incision on the stomach, esophageal spasms and stomach dilatation in the long term. Unlike gastric banding, the sleeve procedure is permanent and cannot be reversed if complications are encountered.

If you are considering bariatric surgery as a weight loss option, there several options that you can choose from. These include gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy and banding. Surgeon preference and the magnitude of your problem are some of the factors likely to influence your decision. The gastrectomy procedure is quite effective but has huge disadvantage in that it cannot be reversed.




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