Originally published February 15 2006
Minimally invasive technique may be behind increasing number of weight loss surgeries
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A report from the University of California Irvine Medical Center suggests that the spike in weight loss surgeries over the last few years could stem from the growing use of a laparoscopic technique, which makes small abdominal incisions and includes a miniature camera that guides the surgery, minimizing the invasiveness of the procedure.
A boom in weight-loss surgeries in the United States appears to be driven in part by the growth of a less invasive procedure which reduces pain and permits a quicker recovery, doctors said on Monday.
Use of a laparoscopic technique, which involves several small abdominal incisions and insertion of a miniature camera to guide the surgery, jumped from about 2 percent of bariatric surgeries in 1998 to nearly 18 percent in 2002, the report from the University of California Irvine Medical Center said.
Complications from such surgery can include intestinal leaks and blood clots, with a death rate of 0.5 percent to 1 percent of patients, according to experts.
In the next few years the laparoscopic technique will probably become more common than open surgery, in which an incision is made from the breast bone to the navel.
The laparoscopic technique generally involves a shorter hospital stay, less post-operative pain, a quicker return to work and a shorter recovery time -- though similar complications are possible from both open and closed bariatric surgeries.
The report, published in the December issue of the Archives of Surgery, said that in 2002 more than 90 percent of U.S. weight loss surgeries involved the so-called Roux-en-Y procedure in which the stomach is reduced by stapling or banding off part of it and connecting the remaining stomach to the middle part of the small intestine.
"With the advantages of laparoscopic gastric bypass clearly apparent to patients and physicians, more physicians are likely to refer their patients for a surgical operation, and patients are more willing to undergo surgery for treatment of morbid obesity," the report said.
"Without a long-term, effective nonsurgical treatment for morbid obesity on the horizon, the rate of bariatric surgery will continue to increase and the procedure will become one of the most commonly performed gastrointestinal operations," the study concluded.
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