Surgical Weight Loss
Are You Eligible?
For patients with a BMI of 35 or more, surgical weight loss may be an option. Bariatric surgery can benefit people who are obese when diet and exercise alone hasn’t worked. That’s especially true when coupled with debilitating diseases affected by weight, like high blood pressure, sleep apnea, joint pain or diabetes. A consult with our bariatric surgeon can help you determine your eligibility.
CALCULATE YOUR BODY MASS INDEX (BMI)
Surgical Weight Loss Options
- Gastric Bypass (laparoscopic Roux-en Y): Bariatric surgery has been used for decades. During this type of procedure, part of the stomach is separated from the rest of the stomach and closed off with staples to create a smaller pouch. In addition, the small intestine is rerouted, which results in fewer calories absorbed. Patients also have a greater sense of satisfaction with less food. Like the gastric sleeve, the surgery results in the body producing less of the hormone that stimulates hunger, plus more of the hormones that promotes as sense of fullness.
- Gastric Sleeve (laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy): Gastric sleeve surgery is a restrictive type of procedure that permanently reduces the size of the stomach, thereby limiting food intake as well as the sensation of hunger. The smaller stomach size restricts the amount of food that can be eaten, so patients lose weight by eating fewer calories. How this differs from dieting is that bariatric surgery changes hunger levels. Today, four of five patients get gastric sleeve surgery over a gastric bypass because it gives similar results with fewer complications. Your surgeon will help you decide which procedure is right for you.
