We use our experience and long-term commitment to put the latest surgical advances to work for our patients.
Nearly all surgical procedures in our practice are accomplished laparoscopically. This means that the surgeon makes several small incisions (about 1/2 inch for each incision) and uses a TV camera plus a number of small instruments to create the planned changes in the patient’s anatomy. Laparoscopic surgery minimizes the trauma created by the surgery, and we believe that the excellent visualization allows us to do the procedures more precisely for better outcomes. Laparoscopic surgery causes less pain than traditional large incisions, and in addition we use new technology to deaden pain nerves so that pain often cannot even get started.
Every one of these techniques is applied with the main goal of making surgery safer, and they have the nice additional effect of making recovery easier. Most patients who have a Gastric Band placed by our surgeons can go home on the same day of the procedure (outpatient surgery), and most patients who have a Gastric Bypass or a Sleeve Gastrectomy can be home within 1-3 days. Most patients are back to work in the first 1-3 weeks after surgery.
Currently our practice offers three surgical procedures. We have an excellent level of confidence in each of these procedures, and we find that most of the time it works best for the patient to choose which surgical procedure he/she should have done.
The Gastric Bypass procedure is done by using a surgical stapler to cut across the upper stomach, leaving a tiny stomach pouch that empties food into a section of small intestine that the surgeon connects to it. This operation has been around for a long time and continues to be the most commonly performed bariatric procedure in the United States. It helps patients achieve a lot of weight loss and it is reliable, but it is complex and sometimes surgically challenging.
Learn all about the Gastric Bypass
During a Gastric Band procedure, the surgeon encircles the upper section of the stomach with a flexible plastic Band or "Belt." The inside surface of the Band is a balloon; in the weeks and months after surgery the surgical team can inject saline fluid into the balloon to create a calibrated restriction on the stomach. The Band causes the least physical impact on the day of surgery, but it requires very extensive follow-up to help it work the best for each individual patient.
Learn all about Gastric Banding
The Gastric Sleeve is done by using a surgical stapler to remove the large reservoir component of the stomach, leaving behind a long narrow tube of stomach. This operation appears to help patients achieve a very helpful level of weight loss, while being simpler than the Gastric Bypass and easier to maintain than the Gastric Band. However, the Gastric Sleeve has only been in use since about 2004 and surgeons are not yet certain that the weight loss is sustained over many years.
Learn all about the Gastric Sleeve
