The Pros and Cons of Weight Loss Procedures in Turkey

With respect to the treatment of obesity in Turkey, a lot of methods by which a person can get rid of obesity have become available in the past few years, and this advances have offered a possible radical solution for the obesity problem which is one of the most troublesome health conditions that concern many people of different ages and genders, because it represents a risk factor for many organic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and infertility.

Obesity treatment in Turkey

Weight loss surgery pros and cons

Various methods and techniques for treating obesity have started to appear lately, including surgical procedures in specialized hospitals. However, this type of treatment cannot be performed for all people, since it has some contraindications and possible risks that may affect the patient with morbid obesity.

In order for a patient to qualify for bariatric surgery, they must fulfill certain criteria and conditions, including:

A body mass index of more than 40 kg/m2, whether there are complications of obesity or not.
The surgical treatment must be used as the last solution and the person must have tried and failed other methods of treatment, such as a diet and exercise.
The patient should undergo a comprehensive evaluation by a dietitian and a psychologist, in addition to the full assessment of the cardiovascular system and the lungs, to make sure the patient is a good candidate for the procedure.

What is the best surgery for obesity?

The most commonly used surgical technique is to isolate a part the stomach longitudinally and take out the larger part and this technique is called gastric sleeve. After gastric sleeve what remains of the stomach will only be able to hold about 50-100 ml of food.

The desired effect of this procedure is to suppress the feeling of hunger after the ingestion of the first couple bites of a meal, and therefore the reduction of total calories intake leading to weight loss.

In the last couple years, new modifications have been added to the original gastric sleeve technique, and these modifications involve adding a circular band to control the passage of food out of the stomach, and this ring is usually connected to a subcutaneous reservoir which makes it "adjustable" making the physician able to control how tight it is by injecting physiological saline into the reservoir, and this technique is called the “Banded gastric sleeve” technique.

Other methods combine both reducing gastric capacity and inducing malabsorption. For example, in gastric bypass procedure, part of the stomach as well as the duodenum are taken out, and because most of the nutrients are absorbed to the duodenum a good part of the calories ingested are not absorbed, which facilitates weight loss.

Average monthly weight loss after obesity surgery

As this kind of weight loss surgery techniques was put into practice until a few years ago, there are no data available about very long-term results. On average, after gastric sleeve the patient usually loses 50 to 60% of their excess weight within 2 years, which represents about twenty kilograms, which is considered a great result for people with morbid obesity.

Only 30% of people with a BMI above 50 were able to lose half of their excess weight.

As for the gastric bypass procedure, data suggests that it can lead to a loss of 70% of excess body weight within 2 years, with a good success rate in most of patients with morbid obesity.

Weight loss surgery risks and benefits

Deaths from the procedure are estimated to be somewhere from 0.1 to 0.3%. The most common cause is pulmonary embolism, the risk of this complication is the same to all patients with severe obesity undergoing the surgery.

Usually weight loss procedures in Turkey are performed by laparoscopy (small incisions are made in the abdomen in order to pass a camera and operating equipment), this technıque reduces surgical trauma to the tissues.

The placement of the stomach ring may rarely lead to perforation in the stomach (very rare complication)

Eating after weight loss surgery

People who have undergone this procedure will have great dietary constraints. As soon as the small pouch of the stomach is filled, it is necessary to wait for its total evacuation to continue eating, otherwise vomiting can occur.

So the patient have to learn to eat slowly and chew their food well, and avoid swallowing big chunks of food.

Foods high in sugar, alcoholic drinks, or ice creams are not recommended, because they do not have the satiating effect of solid foods and this may prevent weight loss.

What are the long term effects of weight loss surgery

In 20 to 30% of cases of gastric sleeve, vomiting that happens due to consumption of solid food may persist, and this can cause inflammation of the esophagus. Especially of the patient doesn’t follow the physician’s orders.

Although these figures are only estimates, they should encourage choosing an experienced surgeon who has the appropriate training in this field to avoid complications

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