Bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery can do more than help you lose weight. It can improve your overall health and help you live a longer, fuller life. But the effectiveness of the procedure takes commitment. Long-term success requires lifestyle changes, including a healthy diet and physical activity.

At Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic, our bariatric surgery specialists use a variety of advanced techniques to provide effective weight loss surgery. We also provide the ongoing support you need to achieve long-lasting weight loss.

What is bariatric surgery?

Bariatric surgery is also called weight loss surgery. It's used to help people with obesity and related health conditions lose weight and maintain weight loss.

Weight loss surgery alters your stomach and intestines so they hold less food or absorb nutrients differently. These changes to your digestive system help you feel less hungry and feel fuller on less food.

Types of bariatric surgery

There are several types of bariatric surgery procedures. Typically, weight loss surgeries are performed using minimally invasive techniques. These surgeries require only small incisions, which reduces complications and speeds healing.

Types of bariatric surgery include:

• Laparoscopic gastric bypass: The surgeon makes a small stomach pouch and connects it to the small bowel. Food is now rerouted around most of the stomach. This results in changes that can reduce your feelings of hunger and help you feel fuller faster. People who have gastric bypass lose an average of about 70% of their excess weight within two years.
• Sleeve gastrectomy: The surgeon removes about 75% of the stomach. The remaining part of the stomach is shaped into a sleeve about the size of a banana. This newly formed gastric sleeve can hold only a fraction of food compared to your stomach before surgery. The procedure also removes sections of the stomach that produce hormones that stimulate hunger. This affects your metabolism and helps promote weight loss. After this procedure, people lose an average of 60-70% of their excess weight.
• Laparoscopic gastric band: Instead of reshaping or rerouting the stomach, this procedure involves placing a band around a portion of the stomach. As you eat, the band gets tighter, limiting how much food you can consume. This procedure doesn't affect metabolism and is typically less effective than other weight loss surgeries. People with a gastric band lose about 50% of their excess weight, and the weight loss happens more slowly. This method also has a higher rate of long-term complications than other types of bariatric surgery.

Conditions treated with bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery is weight loss surgery. Its primary purpose is to treat obesity. Most people who have bariatric surgery lose at least 50% of their excess weight by combining surgery with ongoing lifestyle changes.

But weight loss is only the most obvious benefit of bariatric surgery. The procedure can also have a dramatic effect on several obesity-related health conditions, including:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Sleep apnea

There are guidelines that help determine who is a candidate for bariatric surgery. Talk to your doctor to see if you qualify.

Bariatric surgery side effects

Weight loss surgery is a very safe procedure, done with minimally invasive techniques. There is a small risk of complications from any type of surgery, which include:

• Bleeding
• Blood clots
• Deep vein thrombosis
• Infection
• Pain
• Reaction to anesthesia

As you recover from surgery, lose significant amounts of weight and adjust to your new digestive system, you may experience other side effects, such as:

• Constipation
• Dumping syndrome (when the stomach contents empty too quickly into the small intestine)
• Excess skin due to rapid weight loss
• Gallstones
• Hair loss
• Nutritional deficiencies