Weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery in medical terminology, refers to a group of gastrointestinal surgical procedures carried out on patients suffering from chronic morbid obesity (i.e., at least 100 lbs overweight, or a body mass index, BMI, of 40 or greater, for more than 5 years). It is used to facilitate weight loss and avoid the risk to life-threatening diseases associated with morbid obesity, such as type II diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, degenerative arthritis, etc.

Weight loss surgery is normally resorted to as a last measure when an all other conventional weight loss methods, such as diet control, exercise and weight loss medications, have failed in treating the person for morbid obesity. It may be pointed out that weight loss surgery is distinct from liposuction in that the latter is more of a cosmetic procedure rather than a medical procedure.

What does weight loss surgery involve?

According to The American Society for Bariatric Surgery, there are basically two approaches to weight loss surgery:

1. Restrictive procedures, which help reduce the capacity for food intake in a single meal but do not interfere with the normal absorption (digestion) of food.

2. Malabsorptive procedures, which help reduce absorption of calories from food by altering the process of digestion.

Restrictive procedures are mainly of two types:

1. Lap band surgery, which involves placing laproscopically a silicone gastric band around the top of the stomach in order to create a very small stomach pouch. As a result, the person starts feeling full with just a small portion of food. Food will then slowly empty from the smaller pouch into the lower part of the stomach and into the rest of the digestive tract.

2. Gastric bypass surgery, which involves stapling of the smaller, upper part of the stomach to separate it from the rest of the stomach and rerouting the small intestine to connect it to the smaller stomach pouch.

Lap band surgery is a relatively simple and less risky procedure compared to gastric bypass surgery. It requires just 1 to 3 days of hospital stay as opposed to 5 to 8 days in the latter case. Moreover, there is no malabsorption of vitamins and minerals after lap band surgery, which is not always the case with gastric bypass surgery. However, the expected weight loss over a period of 18 months is lesser (50 to 60% of the excess weight) compared to gastric bypass surgery (70 to75%). Both the procedures are reversible, but lap band surgery is much more easily reversible.

There is a third type of restrictive procedure too, called sleeve gastrectomy, that is less commonly used. In this the surgeon removes approximately 60% of the stomach laparoscopically so that the stomach takes the shape of a tube or “sleeve”.

Malabsorptive procedures are rarely used these days due to the problems of malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies caused by them.

Any risks?

In addition to general risks associated with any kind of major surgery, weight loss surgery can pose its own complications. Discomforting symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, weakness, hernia, gallstones and nutritional deficiencies can crop up after weight loss surgery.

Is it for you?

Though the ultimate answer to the question whether you qualify as a candidate for weight loss surgery or not rests entirely with your bariatric surgeon, here are some pointers that can help you in your decision-making process. If you have been more than 100 lbs overweight for more than 5 years, if your body has failed to respond to the conventional weight loss methods, and if you are not suffering from any major disorder that makes surgery difficult, you can seriously consider weight loss surgery as a feasible option. Consult your doctor for detailed information in order to weigh the risks against benefits of weight loss surgery.

Finally, remember that even if you keep realistic goals in mind, the real success of weight loss surgery is strongly dependent on your making long-term changes in your diet and lifestyle.

Bariatric surgical operations are mainly concerned with gastrointestinal procedures, which are performed by stapling the stomach, to bring considerable reduction in the food intake of a person. The method also involves various steps of rearranging the small intestine, that further eliminate the chances of absorbing fat in the body. It is widely accepted as a suitable technique to to reduce weight for those who have problems like diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. However, bariatric surgery is not an instant procedure and is recommended only if your case is of sever obesity that cannot be treated with the regular weight loss programs such as diet and exercises.

Basically, bariatric surgery procedures are of three types: restrictive, malabsorptive, and a combination of these two. In the procedure of restrictive surgery, the food intake is controlled by reducing the actual size of the stomach with the use of an elastic band. With this kind of reduction in the size of the stomach, patient tends to feel satisfied with little intake of food and the urge of eating more is eliminated. The procedure of restrictive bariatric surgery also includes other operations such as, vertical-banded gastroplasty, adjustable gastric banding, as well as, proximal gastric bypass. On the other hand, malabsorptive procedures are concerned with partial absorption of food, that finally helps in reducing the body weight. In this procedure, the upper and the lower portion of the small intestine are joined to allow the food to bypass the middle section and thus, a huge quantity food is not absorbed. However, surgeons do not consider this option very appropriate, as it increases the chances of diarrhea and dehydration. Interested readers may like to know that jejunoileal bypass was the first kind bariatric surgery to be performed, which used the same concept.

As both these options of Bariatric surgery have their own set of advantages and disadvantages, the surgeons finally managed to combine both, so that a more appropriate form of surgery could be experienced. Hence, whenever you decide to opt for any of these surgeries, make sure that you visit a well qualified and experienced surgeon, who can carry out all your medical check ups and tests and can then, suggest you the most suitable operational technique. Do not forget that the entire procedure of this surgery is, somewhat complicated and demands the patient to strictly follow a regime and diet. Normally, a patient takes at least 6 weeks for recovery and till then, he is supposed to survive on liquid diet.

As far as the charges of getting a bariatric surgery are concerned, you must know that it depends on the various aspects attached to it such as, expenses of hospital, X ray, anesthesia, surgeon’s fees and etc. However, on an approximation, it may cost you around $20,000 to $40,000. Keep in mind, that several kinds of operations are preformed under this category and each procedure has a different cost value attached to it. Hence, if obesity is lowering the quality of your life, then getting this surgery done at any cost would be an intelligent idea.

According to the American Obesity Association, obese people have a 50-100 per cent increased risk of death as compared to normal weight individuals.

Severe obesity is associated with a significant increase in morbidity. Attempts to manage morbid obesity with medical weight reduction programmes have failed completely. Childhood obesity is on the rise in Pakistan due to changing lifestyle. More than 30 per cent people in the cities like Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala are suffering from the disease owing to their disorderly eating habits.

Obesity is an excess of total body fat, which results from caloric intake that exceeds energy usage. A measurement used to assess health risks of obesity is Body Mass Index (BMI).Under Bariatric surgery, a (gastric) band made of silicon is wrapped around the top part of the stomach. Inside the band is a balloon that can be adjusted by adding or taking fluid out of it. This is placed on the body muscles and is connected to the band tubing. A new very small stomach is created above the band that makes the patient feel full after eating just a few mouthfuls. The food empties slowly from this pouch so the patient feels hungry less often.

In Pakistan patients with morbid obesity usually do not respond to medical means of weight loss. Efforts to treat morbid obesity through controlled diets, behaviors modification and exercise programmes are only temporarily successful. High cost of treatment is the reason of obese people prefers ring surgery which is the only method by which long-term and permanent weight loss can be achieved.