Getting To Know Weight Loss Surgeries

Weight loss is something that goes hand and hand with women's care. Throughout a woman's life, she may experience changes in weight due to pregnancy, infertility or even while taking various medications related to contraception. Weight loss surgeries could be the answer to those issues. Each one is carefully chosen by a Ballston OBGYN and/or certified nurse-midwife as the best options available.

Gastric Banding

Adjustable gastric banding divides the stomach into two parts, an upper and lower section. The upper pouch is now the stomach; the pouch will fill quickly and the person feels full. This is a safer option as compared to other weight-loss surgeries and there is not a long recovery time. If needed, the band can be adjusted by adding or taking out the sterile saline in it--the adjustment can be done in a doctor's office. This band can be taken out at any time, but that will require additional surgery. The band is good for those people who have a BMI over 40 or a BMI of 35 to 40; those with pre-existing conditions like heart disease are also great candidates for the procedure.

Gastric Bypass

Gastric bypass is also known as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. During surgery the stomach is divided by stapling; a small pouch is made at the top of the stomach; the small intestines or jejunum and this pouch are connected. Food will only go into the small pouch, not the whole stomach, and then past the duodenum to the jejunum part of the small intestines. A person is only in the hospital for a few days, but recovery takes several weeks.

Gastric Sleeve

In gastric sleeve or vertical sleeve gastrectomies, weight loss is accomplished by taking out betwee 75% and 80% or ¾ of the stomach. This surgery, which is finished in an hour, cannot be reversed once it is done. People who have a BMI of 40 or over are good candidates as the way a person eats will change drastically. After the surgery, any meal will have to be smaller. Also, someone won't feel hungry due to fewer hunger hormones produced during a set time. Within two to four weeks, normal activities can be resumed.

Intragastric Balloons

Intragastric balloons are put into the stomach. Once the stomach is filled with a saline solution, the balloon will give the feeling of being full. A balloon can only be in the stomach for up to six months at a time. At the end of six months, the doctor can put a new one in or not. It will depend on progress and goals. The process takes only thirty minutes; someone would only have to spend a couple of hours in the hospital afterward. In three weeks a normal diet can be resumed. After the procedure, there is a need to meet with a support team to help with the continuing weight loss, including nutritionists.

Invasive options are just another part of weight loss treatments available to patients. The choice to include them in any treatment plan ultimately comes down to a patient's wishes along with a doctor's professional opinion. No matter the choice, they are proven choices that can produce rewards under the right conditions.