The ultimate goal of a bariatric procedure is to help a patient improve or eliminate diseases associated with obesity and to lose weight quickly and safely. Every procedure available today has become increasingly effective and safer than ever.
However, not every bariatric procedure ultimately works as it is supposed to. In cases where the procedure fails to offer the patient a suitable and acceptable result, the procedure can be revised either by performing the same procedure again or by converting the procedure to another form.
At Advanced Surgical Associates, weight loss procedures can be revised both in the case of short-term failure, where the procedure itself fails and long-term failure where the stomach pouch may have stretched or the stoma has widened, allowing more food to be consumed.
Bariatric surgery is a very personal decision, but it also requires care in matching the patient to the procedure. Further, a patient is responsible for keeping up with a significant lifestyle change.
A revisional surgical procedure carries some added risk, especially if the patient is in generally poor health. Revision procedures should not be performed without suitable diagnostic testing to understand what is causing the lack of weight loss.
The first course of action is to analyze the patient’s dietary and exercise habits. Often, patients get themselves into a dietary rut and are not able to lose the weight as they were in the first few months after surgery. Our team will be able to quickly analyze these habits to understand if a simple change in lifestyle is sufficient to start losing weight again.
If we cannot find a reversible reason for a lack of weight-loss and ultimately decide that the procedure needs to be revised, there are many options. For example, the gastric sleeve can be revised to a gastric bypass or duodenal switch, the gastric band can be revised to a gastric sleeve or gastric bypass and a gastric bypass can be revised by adding a band or through various minimally invasive outpatient techniques.
Regardless of the cause, any lack of weight loss or significant weight regain should be evaluated by your bariatric surgeon. Understanding the real cause of the problem will ensure that a revision procedure is truly necessary.