Weight-Loss Surgery Procedures

Reaching your weight loss goal can prove difficult. If you’re struggling to lose weight and have exhausted endless diets and exercise regimes, weight loss surgery could help you to achieve your health and weight loss goals. Weight loss surgery is a surgical procedure that helps to control your appetite and reduce your portion size, making sticking to a healthy eating plan easier. Whilst there are various weight loss surgery options and these procedures will differ, ultimately, they are all designed to help you achieve your weight loss goals, an active lifestyle and in some cases reduce the risk of obesity health related problems.

Gastric Band Surgery

If your attempts to lose weight through dieting and exercise have so far proved unsuccessful, gastric band surgery could be the weight loss procedure for you. If you have a BMI (body mass index) over 30 and have struggled to lose weight through conventional methods in the past, a gastric band may be an option for you. Gastric band surgery, helps with weight loss by stimulating nerve endings at the top of your stomach, which reduces your appetite and allows you feel satisfied on smaller portions of food. To ensure a gastric band assists your weight loss successfully, it will require adjustment to reach optimum efficiency. It’s a keyhole procedure that is reversible, so the band can be removed, and is less invasive than a gastric sleeve Gastric sleeve or gastric bypass operation

Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass surgery is a life-altering procedure that can help you to lose weight, enhance your health, and adjust your entire lifestyle for the better. A Gastric bypass may be fitting for those who have a BMI (body mass index) of 40 or more, or a BMI of 35 or more if you have an obesity-related condition such as Type 2 diabetes. Trying to lose weight on your own can be exceptionally difficult, and gastric bypass surgery is recognised to be a highly successful weight loss procedure when combined with diet, exercise and lifestyle changes.

Gastric bypass surgery involves disconnecting or stapling some of the stomach and re-directing the small intestine. This supports weight loss by limiting food intake, lessening hunger and the absorption of calories and nutrients. A general anaesthetic is required for gastric bypass and depending on your medical condition and the individual needs, the surgery can take up to 2 to 3 hours.

Gastric Sleeve

If you have been powerless to lose weight through diet and exercise alone, Gastric Sleeve Surgery could help you achieve your weight loss goals. Also known as sleeve Gastrectomy, gastric sleeve surgery may be appropriate if you have a BMI of over 30, especially if you have Type 2 diabetes, or if you suffer from another condition associated with obesity.Gastric Sleeve Surgery can lead to a considerable weight loss, giving you a healthier, more rewarding lifestyle. This procedure is known to be less invasive than a gastric bypass but more complex than a gastric band.

The procedure entails reducing the size and capacity of the stomach by about 75%, which includes removing the upper part of the stomach by doing this it helps to reduce appetite and portion size, significantly assisting your weight loss efforts.

Non-Surgical Gastric Balloon

An orally consumed gastric balloon is a non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical treatment for obesity. In combination with a supervised diet it can help you achieve the health and aesthetic gains associated with weight loss. Usually a gastric balloon has to be placed and removed with an endoscopic medical procedure involving anaesthesia. The Gastric ‘Pill’ balloon is swallowed and months later, naturally expelled.

This procedure may be especially beneficial for people considered too overweight to undergo surgery and therefore, The use of the balloon is particularly successfully to reduce weight prior to surgery .

Non-Surgical Endoscopic Sleeve

The Endoscopic Sleeve is a Non-Surgical procedure andis better known as an ESG. This procedure is a non-surgical version of Gastric Sleeve Surgery that entails stitching the stomach internally into a “banana-shaped” sleeve. It operates by lessening the stomachs ability by reducing the rate with which the stomach empties.The ESG is suitable for you if your BMI is between 32-45kg/m2, and you have depleted dietary alternatives.

The procedure presents comparable results to gastric sleeve surgery but as a non-surgical option with a faster recovery. The ESG is a good choice for you if you are not willing to contemplate having over 80% of your stomach removed and don’t feel you can comply with a surgical intervention such as a gastric band.

Anti-Obesity Medication

For those who want medical intervention to help them through this journey, there are medically-led, anti-obesity solutions such as prescribed weight loss medication or slimming pills. These are available through private cosmetic/slimming clinics. Anti-obesity medication and advice from a weight loss specialist clinic is a safe alternative to bariatric surgical procedures such as gastric banding, sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass. Weight loss medication works by reducing your appetite, so that you consume fewer calories, by reducing absorption, so fewer calories enter your blood stream, or by increasing fat burning. Slimming pills are a safe option to assist with a weight loss programme but must be prescribed and monitored by a medical professional.

Lipotherapy

This treatment involves the use of an injectable solution to stubborn areas of fat, which are then eliminated through the body's lymphatic system. There are various products on the market. Lipostabil® (s not licensed in the UK), also marketed as Flabjab™, Lipomelt, Liposdissolve and Fat-Away, which contains phosphatidycholine has been the cosmetic product for the reduction of fat since 2004. AQUALYX™, is an injectable treatment of deoxycholate solution which is being marketed for ‘Aqualysis’ or ‘Aquaplasty’ treatment as a means of treating localised pockets of fat underneath the surface of the skin.

Mamuna Arshad Cosmetic Surgery, Medical Aesthetic & Weight-Loss Consultant