2023-12-19 18:55:00
Gastric bypass is considered the gold standard for patients with metabolic components such as diabetes.
By: Jose Ibraim Alape
December 19, 2023
Bariatric surgery is a surgical discipline designed to help patients lose weight and that has evolved considerably over the last three decades. About its characteristics and types, we spoke with Dr. Ana Santos Quiñones, a surgeon specializing in Bariatric Surgery at the Menonita Hospital in Cayey, who shares with us, exclusively for Medicine and Public Health Magazine, her experience regarding this very popular medical intervention in Puerto Rico. , the United States and all of Latin America in recent years.
Types of bariatric surgeries that exist
The specialist describes some of the surgical options: “There are restrictive operations and there are poorly absorptive operations.” In addition, she adds that the gastric band, considered the simplest, is performed laparoscopically and involves placing a ring around the stomach.
On the other hand, the gastric sleeve involves the elimination of three quarters of the stomach and regarding gastric bypass, he states that it is “The gold standard compared to other operations, they are done for patients who have a metabolic component such as significant diabetes with insulin requirement.”
In bariatric surgery, there are restrictive techniques that decrease the capacity of the stomach, which limits the amount of food that can be consumed. Currently, the most used technique in this sense is known as Sleeve or Gastric Sleeve.
What is restrictive bariatric surgery?
Restrictive techniques are methods that aim to reduce the size of the stomach to limit the amount of food a person can eat while generating a feeling of satiety.
What is malabsorptive bariatric surgery?
Malabsorptive techniques are procedures that seek to reduce the absorption of nutrients in the intestine. These techniques are not commonly performed alone, but are often combined with restrictive techniques to form mixed techniques.
Bariatric surgery: a variety of options to meet individual needs
The option to choose, even if it is mixed by mixing both techniques, is open to the specialists and the patient since according to Dr. Santos Quiñones: “There are different types of bariatric surgeries, which we use according to the needs of each patient and their associated diseases. “.
Furthermore, he emphasizes that not everyone is suitable to receive this type of intervention and “patients can go directly to their bariatric surgeon or they can speak with their primary doctor to learn or find out if they are candidates for bariatric surgery.”
Important considerations regarding bariatric surgery
Dr. Santos Quiñones emphasizes the importance of medical supervision, saying that “when we alter the patient’s anatomy there will certainly be some type of food restriction, therefore, we must be careful of what the vitaminsthe minerals, the proteins of the patients”.
“These operations are very effective, we have performed over 5,000 of them and the pattern of complications is less than 1%, as long as they are carried out by health professionals.” Projection
Promising innovations on the horizon of bariatric surgery
Bariatric surgery has advanced with technology and research. The surgeon highlights the use of the gastric balloon for cases of morbid obesity. “The main indication is being overweight, since losing 100 or 200 pounds is not something you do in a month or two months,” she explains. The gastric balloon is a temporary option that is placed inside the patient for between 6 months and a year, unlike permanent operations performed by laparoscopy.
In addition, he mentions vagal blockade as a promising option, especially for people with gastroparesis problems or movement disorders. gastrointestinal.
With a history of more than 5 thousand bariatric surgeries, Dr. Santos Quiñones highlights the effectiveness of these interventions and a low rate of complications, keeping the figure below 1%. “It’s one small step and we have many more steps to take, but it’s amazing if we can make this happen.”
Source consulted here
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