The surgical treatment of obesity is not a new method; it has been done since the middle of the last century. This field is the so-called bariatric surgery that during is sixty years of existence verified operations that are safe for the patient and lead to the goal – to fast and marked loss of weight.
Obesity lowers the quality of life in a considerable way, it causes a number of serious diseases and substantially shortens life. It is taken as a serious disease by a modern medicine, and thus it definitely has to be treated. The medicine has arrived at an understanding that from a certain type of obesity, obesity class II and class III, the traditional treatment with diet and movement is not sufficiently fast, effective and long-lasting. Bariatric surgery means an intervention to an organism; nevertheless, it is necessary to realize that a much more dangerous intervention for our organism is obesity with all its life-risks.
It is heartwarming that we can often witness an improvement of the patient’s health. The loss of weight tempers diabetes type 2, especially if, for example, an insulin treatment did not last longer that 5 years. In such cases, it is not unusual to completely stop the treatment of diabetes. There is a good impact when it comes to treatment of high blood pressure, higher fat in blood, gout. A significant loss of weight alleviates overload of circulatory and respiratory system, especially in asthmas and obstructive disease of lungs. A lower weight is helpful for joints and backbone. An especially unpleasant is the syndrome of sleep apnea which can be treated by lowering the body weight. Because of these reasons, the surgical treatment of obesity at our workplace is covered by all health insurance companies.
As for the choice of a specific type of operation, you should consult this expert decision with your bariatric surgeon. We are able to offer to our patients all basic types of bariatric operations at our workplace. Some of them are covered fully and patients do not have to pay anything extra. The most common bariatric operation in our country and in Europe is gastric banding, its many advantages being low risk of operation, fast recovery to normal life and minimal complications, very good effect and reliable, long-lasting results. A disadvantage is a needed co-operation of the patients who must stick to some dietary limitations and a risk in case of their forced overeating.
Another type of operation is sleeve gastrectomy through which the stomach is made smaller. An advantage is a lower risk of health issues in case patient indulges in overeating. A disadvantage is a wider scope of this operation, higher risk of complications, slower recovery to normal life and lower stability in the loss of weight. Unfortunately, there is a lot of inaccurate information about this operation at non-expert circles, and thus, we patiently try to explain all the details of this operation, not only its advantages. We offer it in particular to patients for whom the gastric binding is unsuitable. Other procedures (gastric by-pass, biliopancreatic diversion) are performed in justified cases. These are coupled with a discomfort after the operation, more extensive changes in the organism, and so it is better to leave the decision up to the surgeon.
It is safe to say that from a certain degree of obesity it is better for the patient to undergo a surgery. He can thus improve the quality of his life and prevent diseases connected to obesity, as well as lower the risk of premature death. The esthetic viewpoint of obesity is secondary in this case, the main reason being the health. On the other hand, if the degree of obesity is not such that a supposed effect of a surgery would surpass the disadvantages of surgery, then we do not recommend the surgery. The degree of obesity when it is suitable to offer a surgery to a patient is a result of an extensive expert examination.