Less Common Forms Of
Weight Loss Surgery
Weight loss surgery is always changing. Some procedures develop, others are abandoned if favour of newer, better surgical techniques.
Stomach Stapling
When people talk about weight loss surgery they often think of stomach stapling (vertical banded gastroplasty). Stomach stapling was one of the earliest forms of surgery for weight loss.
Basically the size of the stomach is reduced by stapling the stomach into two sections with a small opening between them. The upper section is much smaller than the bottom section. This means that when food is eaten the person feels full quickly. The food then moves slowly into the larger section of the stomach.
Stomach stapling was once considered very dangerous but over the years procedures have alter and it has become much safer. However newer forms of weigh loss surgery have been introduced that have even lower risks and stomach stapling is rapidly falling out of favour.
Sleeve Gastrectomy
This form of weight loss surgery converts the stomach into a long thin tube by stapling it along its length. The excess stomach is then removed. This operation can be done using either as open or laparoscopic surgery.
It is particularly usefull for very obese patients who would be at a greater risk from a long surgical procedure. In these cases the sleeve gastrectomy is seen as a two step procedure. However about 50% of patients will successfully lose weight with just the sleeve operation and need no further surgery. For those who've failed to loose enough weight by the sleeve technique alone, the original surgery can be converted to a gastric bypass once they've reached a weight level where the risk of longer surgery is much less.