Obesity Surgery
Obesity surgery has become a more frequently asked question as obesity operations become more widespread. Obesity surgery, which is known only as sleeve gastrectomy or laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy until the last one or two years, is now being examined and investigated frequently by people considering surgery. In this article, we aimed to provide general information and summarize the most preferred types of obesity surgery in the world in recent years.
Two different ways are used mainly to slim the person with obesity operations.
The first type of operation is applied to reduce the volume of consumed food by reducing the stomach volume and restricting eating capacity and is known as a ’restrictive’ procedure.
The second type of operation prevents food passage into a part of the small intestine and decreases the amount of calories, the procedure is ‘malabsorptive’, that is, it disrupts absorption.
Procedures that benefit from both effects at the same time are known as combined surgeries. Types of obesity surgery that reduce the amount of food intake by reducing the volume of the stomach are gastric clamp (gastric band) and tube gastric (sleeve gastrectomy) operations. Although the gastric clamp was very popular in the 1990s, it has reached the point of abandonment due to its lack of permanent effect and serious complications (side effects). It is stil applied by some very few clinics in the world. Tube gastric surgery is increasing in popularity and is now becoming the most common procedure in the world and in our country. In addition to gastric reduction, the most well known and performed gastric bypass operations are the operations that affect absorption. Roux-y and mini-gastric bypasses are two different types. The roux-y gastric bypass procedure is frequently performed in North America, while mini bypass surgery is more popular in Europe and Asia.
So what are the most preferred types of obesity surgery in the world in recent years?
The United States is the leader in the number of obesity surgeries carried out in the world. An average of 300 – 400 thousand obesity operations are performed annually and it is the most common surgical operation after gall bladder surgery. Until up to the last one or two years, gastric bypass surgery was described as the gold standard and the most common type of obesity surgery. However, during the last two years tube gastric bypass surgery has taken the lead. As of 2017, 57% of the performed obesity surgeries were sleeve gastrectomy and 33% were gastric bypasses. In our clinic, we make decisions based on the patient’s co-morbidities. More than 90 percent of our operations are tube gastric surgeries.
