Surgery Before-After
Today, a substantial part of obesity surgeries can successfully be carried out at many facilities. Community of medicine has not reached a consensus yet on best surgical treatment modality of obesity. Each surgeon claims that the surgery preferred by him/her is better. However, for the patient, “there is no best treatment, but there is best method”. In this context, each patient should be personally assessed and the treatment should be planned after due consideration of extent of weight loss in a particular period and diet and exercise needs.
Considerations before Obesity Surgery
Patients should follow a diet if they can and they should lose some weight in preoperative period. This procedure not only reduces risks related to surgery but also facilitates surgical procedure by reducing size of liver. For surgical preparation, routine preoperative tests are performed. Pulmonary functions are evaluated. Moreover, stomach is preoperatively assessed with endoscopic method to identify or rule out pathologies. Apart from the related workups, cardiology, endocrinology, pulmonary medicine, psychiatry and anesthesiology consultations are requested to approve the surgical procedure. Patient should be fasting starting from one night before the surgery. Patient is informed about what to do for clot formation and blood thinner is started.
Considerations after Obesity Surgery
Contrast-enhanced imaging study is performed to check leakage in the first day after the surgery and oral nutrition is allowed, if no leakage is observed. Most patients are discharged four days after the sleeve gastrectomy, although this period may vary depending on status of recovery. Patients are recommended to drink at least 1.5 liters of water (8 glasses) per day and to eat liquid foods in the first 2 weeks, as advised by your dietician, after discharge. You should necessarily take protein supplements every day. Soft foods are gradually allowed after 2 weeks. It is recommended to eat in small amounts and chew well before swallowing foods. Heavy exercise and lifting heavy objects should be avoided. Patients require 20 to 30 days to engage in work depending on type of the work. Women who plan conception are recommended contraception for one year and to get pregnant after she is assessed by a dietician.
Postoperative Weight Loss
Postoperative reduced gastric volume and gastric digestive capacity requires that the patients are followed up with a special diet program. Nutrition is regulated liquid foods with particular calorie intake per millimeter in postoperative 2 weeks. The diet is maintained with liquid- solid foods, which do not cause protein deficiency in following weeks. Daily calorie and nutritional needs of the person should be calculated by a dietician who is a specialist in obesity surgery such that it will not impair general health and cause any disease secondary to deficiency of nutritional elements and a diet program should be prepared.
Possible Complications
We ask our patients to present for follow-up visits in postoperative Month 1, Month 3, Month 6 and Year 1. You should contact us immediately, if you recognize redness and discharge in wound, body temperature above 38 C, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting within several days after the surgery. While the problem may be unimportant, there can be a serious condition.
The most common postoperative problems are fatigue and tiredness. Tiredness may arise out of rapid weight loss and stress due to surgery. In this case, fluid and protein consumption should be increased and patients should do sports regularly.
Eating fast, in high amounts and at frequent intervals and drinking liquids while eating may cause vomiting.If vomiting persists in spite of those measures, we suggest the patients to present for follow-up visits.
Constipation may occur. In this case, patients should increase fluid intake. Exercises should be done daily. Moreover, iron supplement pills may cause constipation.
In cases of gastric resection, dumping syndrome is probable, although rare, which is accompanied by symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension, sweating and gastric cramps.It occurs as a result of consuming intensely sugary foods. Heavy desserts should be avoided before meals. Moreover, as recommended in our diet list, fluids should not be drunk with foods.
Hair loss and cramps in legs may be secondary to vitamin, mineral and protein deficiencies. If deficiencies are found in regular follow-up visits, vitamin supplements should be used. Weight loss is usually completed at the end of 1 year.Patients, who do not attend control visits regularly and do not follow the recommendations, can face weight gain problems again.
Patients should not get pregnant for 12 months after surgery.
FAQ
Is it possible for people who have had one of these operations to gain weight and return to their old weight after a while?
Statistics show that many morbidly obese patients lose weight with these surgeries and do not take any more. If the patient adheres to the necessary lifestyle changes, this risk will always be minimal.
What are the risks of obesity surgery?
All surgical procedures have certain risks. Depending on the type of procedure selected and the patient's health status, these risks may be less or greater than normal. Before you decide on the operation, your physician will inform you about the surgery in detail, you can learn all possible risks and their degree.
Do I have to lose weight before the surgery?
Your doctor may ask you to follow a special diet program for 2 weeks prior to surgery. This can only be a diet based on liquid nutrition. This way, you will gain weight and become accustomed to the liquid nutrition you need to apply after surgery.
When do I start to lose weight?
After the end of the operation, you will start to give 10% to 20% of your current weight on average within the first 3 months depending on your specific diet. In the following months, you give 30% to 35% in the next 6 months and 40% in the first year.
When I lose weight, will my body sag?
Natural sagging in this process can be minimized with mild sports starting to be taken 1-2 weeks after the operation.
Will my previous surgeries constitute an obstacle to this operation?
You should share with us our physicians even if you have a very old operation. All the information about you is very helpful in the operation process. However, previous operations (appendicitis, caesarean section, closed operations, operations outside the abdominal region etc.) do not constitute an obstacle.
