Understanding the risks associated with weight loss surgeries is important before you choose any type of bariatric surgery.
Sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass are two of the most common weight loss surgeries. While sleeve gastrectomy involves removing part of the stomach, the stomach is divided into pouches in gastric bypass surgery. But which procedure is safer and more effective?
According to a study led by University of Michigan Health, long-term, sleeve gastrectomy is safer than gastric bypass but less effective.
The researchers compared the outcomes of the two weight loss surgeries. They found that 5 years after each procedure, patients who had undergone a sleeve gastrectomy had a lower risk of death and complications than those who had chosen to have gastric bypass surgery. However, sleeve gastrectomy patients were more likely to need follow-up surgery, which suggests that gastric bypass is more effective long-term, even though it carries more risks.
It’s important for patients to understand the risks associated with weight loss surgeries like death, complications, and hospitalization so that they can take informed decision about which type of bariatric surgery to choose, noted first author of the study Ryan Howard, a general surgery resident at Michigan Medicine.
Some people may want to go for sleeve gastrectomy even if doesn’t confer as much weight loss, because it’s the safer surgery. However, if a patient has a lot of comorbidities, and a bypass is going to afford a better clinical benefit, maybe that risk is worth it, Howard added.
There have been short-term studies that concluded that sleeve gastrectomy is the safer choice, but the University of Michigan-led team claimed that their study is one of the largest to analyze the outcomes of the two operations over a longer period of time.
Who needs bariatric surgery?
Being overweight or obese can increase risk of many diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cholesterol-related issues, PCOD, joint-related problems, lung and liver disease, and so on. Obesity also affects the quality of life.
For patients with severe obesity, bariatric surgery is considered an effective treatment option as usual weight loss techniques like going on a diet and exercising may not work for them.
A study published in the journal Gastroenterology March this year revealed that bariatric surgery can significantly bring down the risk of cancer in individuals with severe obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Conducted by researchers from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in the US, the study also found that bariatric surgery was associated with significant risk reductions for obesity-related cancers — colorectal, pancreatic, endometrial and thyroid cancers, as well as hepatocellular carcinoma and multiple myeloma.
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