Some Facts On Gastric Banding Surgery Nj Residents May Wish To Know About

By Olive Pate


Obesity continues to be a major challenge all over the world including Englewood, nj. With an increasing number of people leading sedentary lifestyles, the problem is likely to be with us for a long time. Engaging in physical activities and eating a healthy diet are some of the methods that have been adopted to help deal with the problem. Surgery has been helpful to a good number of patients that fail to respond to the conservative methods. There are some basic facts on gastric banding surgery nj residents may want to know.

The procedure is a minimally invasive surgery that is aimed at reducing the capacity of the stomach. With a reduction in this size, less food is required to fill it hence persons that have been operated on achieve satiety earlier than previously. Most of the food that is consumed is channelled by the body towards energy provision and very little is stored as adipose tissue. Over time, there is net weight loss.

The ideal candidate for this operation is a person whose body mass index is more than 40 or weighs 45 kg more than their ideal weight. A lower BMI of between 35 and 40 is accepted if there is a medical condition contributing to the excessive weight. This often happens in the case of hypertension or diabetes. The candidate must be over 18 years of age and should have attempted the conventional methods of weight loss.

The kind of preparation that is required varies from one centre to another. For instance one may be required to adjust on the number of meals in a day by adopting frequent small meals rather than few heavier meals. Patients are also commonly advised to wean off high calorie foods that have the tendency to increase the body weight. Medical conditions that may be present have to be managed before the operation.

Before the operation, general anaesthesia is administered. This may be a disadvantage if you want to witness the event live. Fortunately, some centres may record it for you and you can watch the video later on. The entire surgery is laparoscopic. Three small ports of entry are made on the anterior abdominal wall and used for the insertion of instruments. The advantage of this technique is that the scars tissue will be almost invisible.

There is no actual cutting that takes place during the operation. Reduction of the stomach size is achieved by placing a silicon band around the upper part of the stomach. Effectively, a small pouch is created and serves as the food reservoir from then on. The band can be adjusted as is desired. The pouch holds less food than was the case before.

There are a number of side effects that have been reported. In the immediate post operative period, patients may complain of vomiting, nausea and abdominal discomfort due to ulceration of the band site. Other side effects include oesophageal reflux, weight regain, dyspepsia, constipation and malabsorption of some vitamins.

Generally, there are few complications associated with the procedure. Death is reported in only 1 in 2000 patients. It is important to point out that the skill of the surgeon is a great determinant of whether or not the results will be satisfactory. For effective weight loss, dietary modifications and physical exercise should continue.




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