How Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery is Changing the Game in Bariatric Surgery
Just as it is not okay to point fingers at obese people, it is also not okay to ignore any unhealthy fat accumulating in our bodies. Obesity is a disease that not only can cause other deadly diseases and health conditions like Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, Osteoarthritis, Cancer, Dyslipidemia, Sleep Apnea, Fatty Liver, and Diabetes, to name a few, but also affects the daily quality of life through clinical depression, anxiety, stress-related problems, body pains, and overall difficulty in normal functioning. Therefore, ignoring obesity is equivalent to doing away with one of the most important factors of well-being – of self-care. Bariatric Surgery has proven to be one of the best ways to tackle Class III Obesity when every other non-invasive treatment has failed.
So What Exactly Is Bariatric Surgery, and What Are the Long-term Weight Loss Results?
Bariatric Surgery involves the removal or modification of a part or parts of a person’s digestive system. This is done to regulate the amount and speed of nutrients absorbed by the body, sometimes along with the strength of the hunger signals sent by it to the brain. This helps control the person’s effective food intake without reaching any dangerous limits at either end of the spectrum. The long-term outcomes, or the weight loss results that Bariatric Surgery helps sustain, are well worth the procedures. Coupled with conscious lifestyle habit changes, a person can lose a lot of their excess weight over a reasonably short period of time. This can improve or resolve most of the weight-related issues mentioned earlier, and the person can have a significantly better quality of life while performing routine activities with far greater ease. Bariatric surgeons conduct procedures like Gastric Bypass, Sleeve Gastrectomy, Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switching, etc. Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery is the preferred form of surgery conducted in all such cases. Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS), in particular, is found to be the go-to for most patients nowadays.
What Surgical Technique Does Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS) Involve?
Laparoscopic Surgery, also known as Laparascopy or Keyhole Surgery, refers to a minimally invasive surgery that doesn’t make larger incisions than are necessary to introduce Laparoscopes. Laparoscopes are thin, long fibre-optic tubes with light sources and cameras attached to them. The surgeon can operate through these tiny incisions while looking at the area of operation through the video feed. Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS) is the kind of Laparoscopic Surgery that involves only a single incision through which the entire procedure is conducted. Some of the advantages of minimally invasive surgery are much faster recovery times, lower chances of infection, less post-surgery pain, less medication, a very little bleeding, and smaller, almost invisible scars. Bariatric Surgery patients can benefit from this surgical technique by being able to get back to an active and healthier lifestyle faster, with the added cosmetic benefit of a barely visible scar.
Criteria for Patient Selection in Single-Incision Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery
Like all surgeries, patient selection is an important step in the entire process of conducting a Single Incision Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery safely. To qualify, a patient must
- have a Body Mass Index must be between 35 kg/m2 and 40 kg/m2weigh at least 220 kg
- have tried dietary therapy first without results
- be mentally stable without alcohol or illegal drug dependence
- be fully informed about the operation and its consequences
- be motivated enough to agree to the surgery
- have no medical history that could hinder the success of the surgical procedure
- have been obese for not less than 5 years
- have no history of alcohol abuse
- have no history of depression
- have no history of significant psychiatric disorders
Last but not least, one thing that must be remembered when considering and undergoing a Single Incision Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery is that the surgery must be complemented with lasting lifestyle changes for sustained long-term outcomes.