Minimally Invasive Procedures For Weight Loss
Weight loss surgery sounds frightening, especially when you consider that you’re making permanent changes to your stomach or small intestine. In past times, these types of operations were done as open surgeries, and therefore involved lots of cutting and long recovery times.
Fortunately, medical technology has evolved to the point where there are far less invasive ways to carry out these types of surgeries. The primary approach of most weight loss surgeries is through a minimally invasive procedures.
Laparoscopy—A Low-Cutting Approach
So what’s a laparoscopy? It’s a technique that uses a few small incisions to perform the surgery, which is far preferable to the outdated alternative of one large cut. This procedure is made possible by a laparoscope (hence the name of the procedure), which is a narrow instrument used to examine tissues in the abdominal regions. This allows the weight loss surgeon to see what she’s doing with only a small incision.
Laparoscopic Procedures
Laparoscopies can be used for a variety of minimally invasive weight loss procedures. Some of those procedures include:
- Gastric bypass: In this surgery, the stomach is cut down to a smaller size and the small intestine is rerouted. This accomplishes two tasks: it limits how much food your stomach can hold, and it restricts the path food travels as it’s digested. This minimizes the number of calories you absorb from each meal.
- Sleeve gastrectomy: A laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy removes a portion of your stomach, essentially creating a stomach sleeve that holds less food. This way, you feel full quicker, encouraging you to make better eating choices.
- Adjustable gastric binding: This uses a band that is wrapped around the stomach and controlled with a port just below the skin. The band can be constricted or relaxed to change stomach volume, thereby assisting with weight loss.
To learn more about minimally invasive approaches used for Bariatric Surgery and how they can help you achieve a healthy weight, contact the office of Malladi Bariatrics and Advanced Surgery to schedule a consultation with Dr. Malladi
