Are you a candidate for stomach surgery? Learn more today.
Defined as having a body mass index of 30 or more, obesity is considered a widespread epidemic, according to patterns reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Putting on extra weight is often a slow, steady process. When you realize it’s time to shed added pounds, however, accomplishing that goal can be a frustrating endeavor.
If you’ve seriously tried to lose weight without success, you may be a candidate for some form of stomach surgery. Not meant to be a go-to remedy for weight loss, it’s a step that often leads to meaningful results for people who are committed to making it work.
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Stomach stapling is a type of weight loss surgery offered by our doctors. In this procedure, our doctors use staples to separate the stomach into two parts. One part consists of a small pouch. This small pouch can hold about four ounces of food at one time. Over time, the pouch may expand to hold six to eight ounces of food at a time. Once the food empties from the pouch, it goes into the larger portion of the stomach, where the digestion process continues.
The stomach’s feeling of fullness comes from the pressure exerted on the upper portion of the small pouch. Since the pouch gets full quickly with just a small amount of food, you will feel full after eating just a tiny meal. Stomach stapling allows you to continue eating your favorite foods but in smaller amounts.
How Stapling of the Stomach Works
To perform a stomach stapling surgery, our doctors provide you with general anesthesia. This puts you to sleep while also erasing any memories of the surgery or feelings of discomfort. Our doctors make several small incisions into your abdomen. Each incision is about one inch long. One of the openings is used to place a long, thin, flexible tube with a camera mounted onto the end. This is called a laparoscope. The camera transmits real-time video images to a monitor in the operating suite so that our doctors can visualize your internal organs without needing to make a large incision into your belly. The other small incisions are used to access your stomach and place the staples.
Once the staples are in place, the instruments and camera are removed and the incisions are stitched closed. The entire stomach stapling surgery takes about 60 minutes. You will go home one to two days after our doctors perform your surgery.
Who Can Have a Stomach Stapling Procedure
Our doctors offer stomach stapling surgery to people who are obese. If your body mass index is 40 or higher, you may be able to have this procedure. Our doctors also perform this surgery on people who have a body mass index ranging from 35 to 39 and who also have another medical condition that is made worse by excess body weight. These additional medical conditions include asthma, arthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes and high blood pressure.
To have a stomach stapling surgery, you should also be willing to commit to regular follow-up visits with our doctors so that your rate of weight loss and your overall health can be monitored. You will also need to plan on following the nutrition and exercise guidelines that our dieticians, nutritionists and weight loss doctors provide to you.
Tips on Preparing for Stomach Stapling Surgery
To prepare for a stomach stapling surgery with our doctors, you will participate in a health consultation. This will include measuring your body mass index and having some lab tests to check your vitamin and iron levels. Our doctors may give you pre-surgical guidelines that will help you to prepare for the surgery. If you take certain medications or you smoke or consume caffeine or alcohol, you may need to avoid using some of those products in order to facilitate your recovery after the surgery. While getting ready for a stomach stapling surgery, you may be asked to meet with our nutritionists and start following a healthy diet. This will help you to become familiar with the portion sizes that you will be eating after the surgery.
What You Can Expect After Stomach Stapling
After stomach stapling surgery, you will have a liquid diet for one to two days. After that, you will be able to start eating soft foods. Within one week, you should be able to transition to the diet plan provided to you by our doctors. As soon as your incisions have healed, you will be able to ease into a physical activity program. Your greatest rate of weight loss will take place within the first six months of the stomach stapling surgery. You will continue to lose weight for two to three years by following the diet and exercise plan that our doctors and nutritionists have created just for you. Following stomach stapling surgery, you will get full after eating just a small amount of food. Because of this, you will need to eat more slowly. This will help you to stop eating at the first sign of fullness.
To learn more about this weight loss procedure, contact our office today.