Different Types of Weight Loss Surgery: The Shape of Change

Ever since your appearance has started to dominate your personality chart everywhere you go, being fit and healthy is a necessity and a challenge. We know how important it is to maintain your physical body in appropriate shape today, and options like weight loss surgery for low-income individuals are now more accessible.

Different factors affect your body to respond in specific ways and levels. However, instead of challenging, monotonous, and tiring practices to lose weight, you can explore and learn about different types of weight loss surgery, including those accessible for low-income individuals, that best suit your body.

Understanding Weight Loss Surgery: Types and Applications

When your body is burdened with a severe weight that cannot be reduced by diet practice, exercises, or attempts to lose weight fast, fostering nutritional values becomes key. Your doctor may recommend weight loss surgery based on your health conditions and body weight-to-fat ratio graph.

Fascinating the art of medical science, surgeries are best suited to people having severe and intense health damage, may survive with comorbidities, and require a no-choice solution to their problems. We understand the stigma associated with a heavy-weight body or weighting obesity and illness.

The decision of weight loss surgery is not solely dependent on one factor, such as BMI or the amount of weight you need to lose; there are other essential factors that a professional doctor or surgeon can understand. Hence it becomes crucial to consult the healthcare professionals.

Following are some critical suggestions for taking essential factors into consideration, such as Body Mass Index (BMI) and Weight Loss Goals.

• For Significant Weight Loss Goals (50% or More Excess Weight Loss):
  • Gastric Bypass Surgery
  • Sleeve Gastrectomy
  • Duodenal Switch
• For Moderate to Substantial Weight Loss Goals (0% to 50% Excess Weight Loss):
  • Gastric Balloon (temporary solution)
  • Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty
  • Adjustable Gastric Banding

Different Types of Weight Loss Surgery

We have highlighted various types of weight loss surgery commonly utilized and applicable in professional healthcare services. The following is a list of different types of weight loss surgery that you can learn and explore the applicability of each surgery.

1. Gastric Bypass (Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass)
   • This surgery involves the reconstruction of the gastrointestinal tract, typically creating a small pouch at the top of the stomach. This directly connects to the small intestine. This surgery helps to restrict food intake and reduces calorie consumption.
   • Success Rate: 60 to 80%
2. Sleeve Gastrectomy
   • This surgery helps remove the large part of your stomach and leave behind the small banana-shaped stomach portion that is closed with the staples. The less the size of the stomach becomes, the lesser you tend to eat, resulting in weight loss in the long term.
   • Success Rate: 60 to 70%
3. Adjustable Gastric Banding (Lap Band)
   • Around the upper part of the stomach, an adjustable band with an inflatable balloon is placed. This helps create the small pouch above the band with a narrowed opening to the rest of the stomach, which slows down the passage of food and promotes the feeling of fullness.
   • Success Rate: 40 to 60%
4. Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch (BPD/DS)
   • This surgery is more complex than others, involving removing a large portion of the stomach and bypassing a significant part of the small intestine. This will reduce your stomach’s food intake capacity and decrease the nutrient absorption rate.
   • Success Rate: 70 to 90%
5. Gastric Balloon (Intragastric Balloon)
   • A saline-filled silicon balloon is placed inside your stomach to reduce calorie consumption, leaving no extra space for food absorption. This results in you feeling fuller with less food intake and reduced weight. This surgery is typically less invasive in comparison to others.
   • Success Rate: 10 to 15%
6. vBloc Therapy (Vagus Nerve Blockade)
   • This procedure differs from traditional bariatric surgeries and involves placing or implanting a device under your skin to control the nerve signal between your brain and stomach. It can send electrical pulses to vagus nerves, signaling hunger to the brain. To reduce the feeling of hunger, it blocks these signals to the brain that eventually lead to weight loss.
   • Success Rate: 28%
7. AspireAssist
   • This is a minimally invasive and less commonly used surgery compared to others. This procedure involves the small tube called a gastrostomy tube or “G-tube,” which is placed in your stomach that connects to an outside port on your skin. After meals, you can drain some stomach contents in the toilet through this device tube.
   • Success Rate: 12.1%

Factors to Consider Before Choosing a Surgery

The following are general guidelines; you should not forget to consult a professional doctor or surgeon for the correct recommendation of the specific type of weight loss surgery.

We consider specific factors, including weight loss surgery risks, before choosing the right weight loss surgery. Discussing all these factors with your doctor for fruitful decision-making would be best.

• Your Overall Health
• The Amount of Weight You Need to Lose
• Your Willingness to Make Lifestyle Changes
• Surgery Risks and Potential Complications
• The Effectiveness of the Procedure
• Reversibility
• Malabsorption

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed the different types of weight loss surgeries along with their application. Here, we have highlighted the factors you should consider and discuss with your doctor before having a suitable recommendation and prescription based on your health conditions.

FAQs