laparoscopic
Adjustable Gastric Band Surgery
The Adjustable Gastric Band Surgery uses the laparoscopic technique.
The Adjustable Gastric Band Surgery consists of the placement of a band or ring around the upper part of the stomach. With the placement of the ring, we provoke an important reduction in the storage capacity of the stomach and early satisfaction sensation. As a result, the patient reports a dramatic decrease in food intake.
 Adjustable Gastric Band Procedure |
At certain periods of time, such band has to be adjusted in order to regulate the gastric capacity.
The laparoscopic surgery for the adjustable gastric band has, among others, the following characteristics:
- It is fully reversible,
- Since it is simple, it has the lowest incidence of complications during surgery,
- It can be placed in ambulatory manner.
In well-chosen patients, the results are excellent.
The laparoscopic Gastric Sleeve Surgery is also known as Vertical Gastrectomy or Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery.
Just as with the Gastric Band Surgery, the Gastric Sleeve Surgery is a restrictive surgery that reduces the capacity of the stomach, thus producing a lower food intake.
Gastric reduction is done with a single cut and no joints to the intestine, which allows keeping the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract. As a result of this surgical cut, the patient will not have mal-absorption of nutrients, which facilitates the later therapy because it does not require the administration of a nutritional or mineral support in a permanent manner.
 Sleeve Gastrectomy |
Other advantages of this surgical technique include the fact that the patients with extreme obesity can take the obesity management surgery in two parts: first they can get the Gastric Sleeve surgery and, once the patient looses a certain amount of weight, he can get the Gastric By-pass Surgery.
Consequently, the possibilities for surgical complications are reduced.
Gastric Sleeve Laparoscopic Surgery has, among others, the following characteristics:
- It is a non-reversible surgery since a big part of the stomach is eliminated in a definite manner. This represents a great advantage, since the part of the stomach that is eliminated contains the site for formation of the hormone Ghreline, known as the hunger hormone (this substance is responsible for producing appetite in the different cycles of food intake),
- It is a fast and safe surgery
- After the surgery, the patient does not require nutritional or mineral support in a permanent manner
- It has all the advantages of the laparoscopic surgery.
The gastric bypass surgery has been practiced in our countries for almost fifty years. In other words, it is a widely known surgery with hundreds of thousands of patients that had undergone this procedure. The boom during the last decade is due to universal epidemics of obesity and diabetes, and also to the use of the technique using laparoscopic procedures.
The Gastric Bypass Surgery in Y de Roux is a bariatric surgery that combines two weight loss methods: first, there is a reduction in the gastric capacity (similar to what happens in the adjustable gastric band surgery and the gastric sleeve surgery and second, there is a mal-absorption component (that is, the little that is taken is not fully absorbed), thus contributing to weight loss.
In order to accomplish the mal-absorption, an intestinal bridge is made during the surgery, which is responsible of the metabolic changes that act directly over the metabolism and the regulation of glucose. With this intestinal bridge, we induce the necessary physiological changes for the reduction of sugar level in the blood. After the surgery, the patient needs to have a close post-operatory control because he requires hundreds of nutrients like Vitamin B-13, Iron and Calcium, mainly.
Because of this, the candidate to this type of surgery should meet the medical psychological and nutritional requirements.
 Gastric Bypass Surgery |
Intestinal Bypass Surgery or Metabolic Surgery
The Intestinal Bypass laparoscopic surgery is also known as Metabolic Surgery or Surgery for the Control of Type II Diabetes Mellitus in non-obese patients.
The Intestinal Bypass surgery is similar to the Gastric By-pass surgery with the exception that it is not done in the stomach. In both surgeries, an intestinal bridge is done.
 Intestinal Bypass Surgery or Metabolic Surgery |
This type of surgery is still in the experimental stage, but, day after day, there are more reports worldwide mentioning the benefits of this type of surgical procedure in Type II Diabetes.
In this surgery, we have observed that obese patients with Type II Diabetes and hypertension report important cures to their diseases: in the case of diabetes, we observed up to 86% cure in blood glucose, and in the case of hypertension, the cure rate reached 60%. And in those patients where a cure was not accomplished for these diseases, there was a significant reduction in the dose and number of medicines taken to treat such conditions.
Although it is a new procedure, the first results of small series show an extraordinary benefit in Type II diabetics. The individualization and selection of the candidate for this procedure are keys for its success. This type of surgery is offered only to those candidates that meet the requirements and understand that it is an experimental procedure.