Weight Loss Procedures
If you’ve decided to and qualify for bariatric surgery as your permanent weight loss solution, you’ve got several options to choose from. At Obesity Solutions, we offer the three most effective and safe weight loss procedures available.
Gastric Bypass
Gastric bypass uses surgery to form a smaller stomach (making it a restrictive procedure) and bypass part of the intestine (making it a malabsorptive procedure) to slow the eating and the absorption of calories and some nutrients.
The potential lack of nutrients is what made the first bypass procedures so dangerous. But since the inception of bypasses in the 50’s, they’ve evolved into today’s gold standard of safe weight-loss surgeries, called the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RNY).
The gastric bypass offers the most weight-loss potential, because the body no longer tolerates so many high-calorie foods, such as sweets and those high in carbs. But this means that patients must be prepared to never eat the types of food that may have been a large part of their enjoyment in life. The upside to this permanent and highly restrictive diet is a quick and ongoing weight loss. (learn more)
Gastric Sleeve
Unlike a bypass, the gastric sleeve procedure, or vertical sleeve gastrectomy, restricts the size of the stomach without affecting the intestines, so it is not malabsorptive.
A gastric sleeve procedure, though also permanent, offers far greater eating options after surgery than a gastric bypass. But that means the body imposes less discipline on the patient, so you must put forth greater control in making dietary choices.
Should the gastric sleeve not offer enough weight loss control, it can serve as a first stage to a gastric bypass. (learn more)
Adjustable Gastric Banding (AGB)
Gastric banding offers the least invasive effects on your body, because it requires no cutting or stapling. It decreases the size of the stomach, like the other weight loss surgeries, but uses a hollow adjustable ring belted around a small portion of the stomach to create a half-ounce pouch. The ring has an inflatable inner ring that can be filled with or drained of saline through a small port under the skin to adjust the size of the opening, which allows for more or less food to pass through to the rest of the digestive system. This allows you to adjust your rate of weight loss to suit your needs and desires.
This surgery, though the least invasive, also requires the strictest patient self-control. It does restrict the amount of food that can be eaten, but like the gastric sleeve, it does not limit what kinds of food you can eat, including sweets and fatty foods. (learn more)