Most Recommended Weight Loss Surgeries in India for Foreign Patients
Prevalence of obesity among humans is the highest it has ever been all around the world. It is beyond doubt a major cause of worry since it is a major factor promoting a number of serious & potential life-threatening diseases. Obesity is found to lead to strokes, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, & linked to some types of cancer including colon, pancreatic & breast cancers. Obesity therefore can severely damage an individual’s quality of life by triggering depression & often leaving people immobile. This is the reason why most excessively overweight individuals seek a variety of weight-loss interventions so as to combat obesity. Weight loss surgery which is also known as bariatric surgery is now one of the most common surgical interventions sought by obese individuals.
Weight Loss Surgery in India
Most surgeons in India are adept in performing every type of bariatric surgery provided around the world. In fact, many of them have now returned back after gaining decades of obesity surgery experience in countries like the UK & USA. Hospitals in India are completely high-tech as per international standards & can compete with any healthcare facilities in the west. Apart from the exuberant costs of obesity surgeries a patient will have to pay in developed countries, nothing else is compromised for similar procedures in the Indian subcontinent. Obesity / bariatric surgeries in India are low-cost, affordable & conveniently accessible.
Types of Weight Loss Surgeries
There are three basic types of weight loss surgeries.
Restrictive Surgeries – These work by shrinking the type of stomach thereby slowing down the digestive process. Smaller the size of stomach, the less you’ll eat. The less you eat, less weight you’ll put on.
Malabsorptive / Restrictive Surgeries – A part of the digestive tract is removed or bypassed along with a smaller stomach in this type of surgery. Designed to make it harder for the body to absorb calories; these surgeries have side effects therefore doctors are very careful in choosing this option.
Implanting Electrical Devices – This is the newest of the three. This procedure encourages weight loss by interrupting nerve signals travelling between the brain & stomach.
Weight Loss Surgical Procedures
Some of the existing weight loss surgeries listed below help in many different ways.
Adjustable Gastric Banding – This is a type of restrictive weight loss surgery where surgeons use an inflatable band to squeeze stomach into two sections. A small upper pouch, which makes you feel full sooner, is connected to a larger lower section through a small channel which delays emptying of the upper pouch into the lower.
Sleeve Gastrectomy – Another form of restrictive weight loss surgery where surgeons remove almost 75% of the stomach. Remaining stomach is a narrow tube or sleeve connected to the intestine. This operation is a simple low-risk procedure.
Gastric Bypass Surgery – Also known as Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, this is the most common type of weight loss surgery which effectively combines both restrictive & malabsorptive approaches. Dividing the stomach in two parts while sealing-off the upper from lower, upper stomach is directly connected to lower part of the small intestine in this operation.
Maestro Rechargeable System – This works more like a pacemaker by delivering electrical pulses to a nerve between stomach & brain called vagus nerve, & which fakes to tell the brain that the stomach is full. Implanted in abdomen & controlled from outside, it is the least invasive of weight loss surgeries.
Biliopancreatic Diversion – Basically a drastic version of gastric bypass, 70% of the stomach is restricted & more bypass of small intestine. Another less extreme variant of this surgery is Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch which removes less stomach & lesser intestine.
Which Weight Loss Surgery is Right for Me
This will largely depend upon your health & body type. In case you are morbidly obese & have had abdominal surgeries earlier, simpler bariatric procedures may not be useful anymore. So talk to your Travcure medical tourism consultant about the pros & cons of various procedures & choose the one which is most ideal weight loss surgery treatment for your condition.