Who Is Obesity Surgery Suitable For?
The obesity surgery method is suitable for people who have applied all other treatment methods before the surgery but have not been successful. The patient should be evaluated with all relevant units before undergoing a surgical procedure and should be suitable for surgery in terms of anesthesia. Patient selection is made according to body mass index. If the body mass index is over 40, the patient can be operated. If it is between 35 and 40, if there is an additional disease (such as hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea syndrome, high triglyceride heart disease, hypoventilation syndrome, fatty liver), if the body mass index is between 30 and 35, blood sugar cannot be controlled by medical treatments, Type 2 Diabetes patients may be offered surgery.
Types of Surgery for Obesity Treatment
With the developing technology, there are various surgical techniques used in obesity. The choice of surgery is decided by the physician and the patient together according to the patient’s condition.
Gastric Balloon
The simplest method to help lose weight is the gastric balloon application. In this method, a balloon filled with liquid or air is placed in the stomach with the help of an endoscope under mild anesthesia. This process takes 15-20 minutes. Thus, the food intake capacity of the stomach is reduced and quick saturation is provided. With this method, patients can lose 7-8 kilos in a few months. However, this balloon can remain in the body for 6 months, a maximum of 1 year, and is removed within 5-6 minutes by endoscopic method. Although it is the advantage of the method that it is simple to apply and there is no permanent change in the body, if the patient does not change his lifestyle and does not continue his diet after the balloon is removed, the lost weight can be regained. However, within the period of use of 6 months-1 year, people get training on how to eat by trying them out. Today, the gastric balloon method is used as a preparation for basic morbid obesity surgery either in patients who are too risky for surgery or in super obese people. It can also be used by those who are not overweight.