Stomach Stapling
Stomach stapling is the common term for vertical banded gastroplasty and is an operation that causes weight loss by restricting the amount of food the patient can eat at one time and slowing the passage of food through the patient’s digestive system.
During the surgery, a combination of staples and a band are used to create a small pouch in the stomach. A small hole is made in the bottom of the pouch, through which its contents flow into the rest of the stomach and then into the gastrointestinal tract. This new pouch, in effect a small preliminary stomach, is roughly the size of an egg (compared to its original size more similar to a melon) and can normally accommodate only 1-2 tablespoons of solid food.
This type of surgery on its own has lost favour in recent years as the development of the adjustable gastric band showed similar effects could be achieved without cutting into the stomach and using staples, making it a much safer procedure.
Having said that, stomach stapling techniques are often combined with malabsoptive procedures in which part of the digestive tract is bypassed, reducing the absorption of calories and nutrients. The most common combined restrictive and malabsorptive or ‘gastric bypass’ technique is Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, offered here at Streamline Surgical.
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