Most people who undergo bariatric surgery experience the following benefits:
- A significant amount of weight loss that is maintained long term (as opposed to people who solely try to lose weight through diet and exercise alone)
- Improvement or disappearance of obesity-related health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD, or severe heartburn)
- Quality of life improvement as physical and behavioral changes occur, and improvements in social well-being
What types of weight loss surgeries are available, and how do they differ?
There are several types of weight loss surgeries, and they fall into two main categories: restrictive procedures and restrictive/malabsorptive procedures. Successful results depend on your willingness to adopt a long-term healthy eating and exercise plan.
Restrictive procedures
These surgeries significantly reduce the size of the stomach, making you feel satisfied after eating less food and you stay full longer. Adjustable gastric banding is a widely used restrictive procedure. There is also a new experimental procedure called sleeve gastrectomy, which involves stapling the stomach to create a small pouch and removing the rest of the stomach. However, it is only an experimental procedure not readily performed, and there are currently no long-term outcome data on weight loss effectiveness.
Adjustable gastric (stomach) banding, in which an adjustable band is placed around the top of the stomach and then filled with saline. This forms a small stomach pouch that is able to hold only a very small amount for food and a narrow passage to the rest of the stomach. This also slows down the digestive process and helps you feel fuller. The adjustable gastric band is reversible and can be removed if it becomes medically necessary. In comparison, other surgical procedures change the anatomy of the stomach and small intestine and are permanent.
