Who is Suitable for Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
We can not tell if someone is obese just by looking at how much they weigh. We want people who need surgery for obesity to have tried other ways to lose weight before. If these other methods do not work, even after trying, some plans are made for surgery. The body mass index (BMI) of the people is the most important thing to look at when making these plans. This is about how much weight there is per square meter.
- If the BMI is 40 or higher, surgery is a good idea even if there are no other diseases.
- If a person’s BMI is between 35 and 40, they are checked for other diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. If they have other diseases, surgery is recommended.
- People who have one of the two things above and have not been able to lose weight through diet, sports, exercise, or other similar methods.
How is Gastric Sleeve Surgery Performed?
Laparoscopic surgery or robotic surgery, which we call the “closed method,” is used to do gastric sleeve gastrectomy surgery. Before surgery, patients are given a thorough check-up and evaluation. If there are other diseases, the relevant departments will definitely give permission for surgery, and if none of the tests and exams show any problems, the patient is ready for surgery. During the surgery, 4/5 of the outside of the stomach is taken out. The stomach turns into a tube. This is what the surgery is called because of how it looks. With this surgery, the volume of the stomach is reduced and the fundus region is removed. This gets rid of the hormone we call the “hunger hormone,” and the person loses weight in a healthy way. Since this hormone is also a key part of how insulin resistance and high blood pressure happen, 60–70% of patients are treated for both insulin resistance and diabetes. It has been seen that most of it is lost in high blood pressure. In other words, when people lose weight, their health gets better. Also, they get rid of the risks and complications of a lot of diseases, like knee pain, low back pain, diaper rash, fungal diseases, physical activity restrictions, and vascular occlusions and embolisms that are caused by being overweight. Because of all of these things, I call this operation SECOND SPRING operation.
How Should I Feed After Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
In sleeve gastrectomy surgery, nutrition and dietitian control after the surgery are just as important as the surgery itself. Since you will lose weight quickly in the beginning, especially in the first few months, you should eat under the supervision of a dietitian to keep from losing vitamins and proteins. In the first 10 days, 30 days, 1st month, 3rd month, 6th month, and 1st year, we check on our patients regularly and control their diets. The bigger the surgery, the more important it is to have a dietitian in charge. We want the patient to lose weight, but we have to make sure that he/she does so in a healthy way.
