Bariatric weight loss surgery procedures

Your weight loss journey is very personal. You've tried diet and exercise, but they haven't worked. Your next step may be bariatric weight loss surgery — is it right for you and your health needs? How can you find a program that offers a lot of support along the way?

The HonorHealth Bariatric Center provides the personalized care you want from a team of experts who support you every step of the way.

It's important to remember that bariatric weight loss surgeries are not a quick fix for obesity. You'll still need to be committed to diet and exercise after surgery.

After a careful examination, your surgeon will determine which minimally invasive surgical procedure is best for you and your health. Together, you'll discuss such factors as:

• Your body mass index — BMI. To qualify for bariatric weight loss surgery, your BMI needs to be 35 or higher.
• Co-existing conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease and sleep apnea.
• Your personal preference and needs.

From there, you will discuss surgical and non-surgical options.

Surgical options:

HonorHealth surgeons perform laparoscopic surgery through small incisions near the belly button. This results in faster recovery, less pain and fewer complications. The center specializes in the following surgical procedures:

• Gastric bypass surgery.
• Gastric sleeve surgery.
• Adjustable gastric band.

Gastric bypass surgery

The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery technique is considered the gold standard of bariatric surgery by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons and the National Institutes of Health.

The minimally invasive surgery is performed in the hospital; you'll be under general anesthesia. You'll probably stay in the hospital for at least two days.

During the operation, your HonorHealth surgeon creates a new stomach pouch about the size of an egg from your existing stomach. Next, your surgeon divides the top part of the small intestine, connecting the bottom part to the new stomach pouch.

The surgeon then connects the top portion of the divided small intestine to the rest of the small intestine further down. The remaining stomach and part of the small intestine are now "bypassed."

How gastric bypass helps you lose weight:

• Because your newly created stomach is much smaller, you won't be able to eat as much. Fewer calories consumed = weight loss.
• The majority of the stomach and a segment of the small intestine that would normally absorb calories are being bypassed. Fewer calories absorbed = weight loss.
• This change to your gastrointestinal system produces changes in the gut hormones that suppress your appetite and make you feel full. Your appetite is decreased, and you feel full more quickly.

What are the advantages of gastric bypass surgery?

• Not only does this surgery help with weight loss, it also can decrease heartburn and reverse obesity-induced type 2 diabetes.
• Because gastric bypass has been the gold standard of weight loss surgery for about 40 years, research has shown that it can help you lose up to 87 percent of excess weight at the two-year mark.
• You maintain at least 68 percent average weight loss post-surgery.
• Thanks to recent refinements with the operation, many patients lose between 85 and 100 percent of their excess weight and keep it off long-term.
• The procedure is reversible, although that's rarely necessary.

Gastric sleeve surgery

Also referred to as sleeve gastrectomy, this surgical procedure has become the most common weight loss surgery. The minimally invasive, irreversible surgery is performed in the hospital. You'll be under general anesthesia and will stay in the hospital at least overnight.

The surgeon removes the part of your stomach that expands (about 85 percent) and creates a new, small, sleeve-shaped stomach pouch. The new tubular pouch is about the size and shape of a banana, larger than the stomach created by the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

How the gastric sleeve procedure helps you lose weight:

• The new pouch holds less food than the normal stomach. This significantly reduces the number of calories you can consume.
• Like the gastric bypass surgery, the most significant impact is the effect of the surgery on the gut hormones that control your appetite and that make you feel full after eating.

What are the advantages of gastric sleeve surgery?

• It does not require a bypass or rerouting of the food stream.
• The surgery has a positive effect on blood sugar control.
• It induces rapid and significant weight loss.
• You may be the ideal candidate for this procedure if you don't have diabetes or gastroesophageal reflux disease (heartburn), which is caused by stomach acid backing up in the esophagus.

Adjustable gastric band surgery

This minimally invasive surgery is performed on an outpatient basis; you should be able to go home the same day as the surgery. During the operation, your HonorHealth surgeon places an adjustable band around the upper part of your stomach. This creates a smaller stomach pouch above the band, with the rest of the stomach below.

How the adjustable gastric band surgery helps you lose weight:

• Like the gastric bypass and gastric sleeve, your stomach accommodates less food so you feel fuller with less food. Less calories = weight loss.
• What's different is that there isn't the same effect on the gut hormones that control your sense of appetite and fullness. Weight loss is purely based on restriction, not on changes to your metabolism.

What are the advantages to adjustable gastric band surgery?

• The surgery is safe and reversible.
• The band can be adjusted over time to make the stomach pouch smaller or larger.
• Your anatomy stays intact.

The HonorHealth Bariatric Center is accredited as a Comprehensive Center with Adolescent by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program. This means the center has met stringent national quality standards.

HonorHealth bariatric surgeons have a great deal of experience with complicated issues, even revisions of surgeries that have been done previously.

An Honor Health Bariatric Center surgeon will help you decide which procedure is best for you. For information, please call 480-882-7460, or attend a free bariatric weight loss surgery seminar.