How To Get an Ideal Figure with the Help of a Surgeon?

Doctor of Medical Sciences, surgeon of the Center for Endosurgery and Lithotripsy, president of the Society of Bariatric Surgeons, Yuri Yashkov, speaks of well-established radical methods of weight loss.

It is immediately worth noting that there is simply no universal method that would be equally acceptable for all patients. There is a wide variety of techniques – from fairly simple to complex, combined.

So, all operations can be divided into three types: limiting the volume of the stomach; shunting operations, which help to reduce the absorption of food in the intestinal tract; combined complex operations, including a decrease in the volume of the stomach, and limiting the absorption of food.

Let’s start with the simplest technique – an endoscopic installation of an intragastric balloon. During this operation, a specially designed adjustable balloon is installed in the human stomach using an endoscope. Having its own weight of 500-600 grams, it limits the volume of the stomach, and hence the amount of food received.

The balloon is set for 4-6 months. A bet is made that a person during this time will develop the habit of limiting nutrition. Then, even after the removal of the balloon, the tendency to reduce weight will continue.

As a result, using a balloon, you can lose a third of the excess weight. Installation, including the cost of the cylinder, as well as removal, will cost an average of 2 thousand dollars.

With the method of bandaging, the stomach is divided into two parts using a special silicone device – a bandage. The result is an hourglass stomach. Its upper part becomes very small. As soon as the first portion of food enters this upper part, a person experiences a feeling of fullness. Now he eats up a small amount of food and due to this, he is losing weight.

The operation is performed not through a large surgical incision, but through 4–5 small punctures. This is a laparoscopic technique done by best bariatric surgeons in Los Angeles.

Bandaging is a gentle operation, and after just literally a few days later you can go to work. Its advantage is also that it is physiological: food passes through all sections of the digestive tract, absorption is not disturbed.

The expected result from the operation is the loss of two-thirds of the excess weight. The operation involves a lifelong effect. But there is a certain likelihood that over time, the system may require removal – after all, inside is something alien to the body. This is the minus: not all patients can psychologically accept the idea of implanting a foreign body.

This operation is not effective enough in people with overweight (weighing more than 150 kg). But in this case, there is no guarantee that the operation will give them a lifelong result.

Another method of gastric-restriction surgery – vertical gastroplasty – is also done using laparoscopic technique through 5 punctures on the abdominal wall. Although this technique is much more complicated than open, it is better tolerated by patients, contributes to faster rehabilitation and the result is faster.

With the help of staplers, the stomach is divided into two parts: in the upper part, we get a small cylindrical tube. The mechanism of action of the operation is the same as with bandaging – a decrease in the amount of food taken. This method is also considered physiological, and saturation occurs with the first servings of food. After surgery, patients are discharged on the 3-4th day, and another week or two they are recommended home regimens. There is almost no foreign material except for a small polypropylene tape. The result is an average loss of two-thirds of excess weight. The downside is that some types of food cause some discomfort: meat, bread, pasta, some types of vegetables, fruits through a narrow hole do not pass very well. Therefore, it is necessary to observe the conditions for eating: meat is better to eat in the form of cutlets, bread in the form of well-fried crackers, not a crumb, of fruits, bananas and strawberries are preferable. In general, you can eat those foods that pass well through the narrow opening of the stomach.