February 28, 2011

What to consider about weight-loss surgery

By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times

A patient is prepared for banding surgery. Several options exist for bariatric, or weight-loss, surgery. (Brian Vander Brug, Los Angeles Times / February 27, 2011)

With record U.S. obesity rates and newly expanded Food and Drug Administration eligibility criteria for Lap-Band surgery, more and more Americans may be mulling the possibility of going beyond diet and exercise to tackle their weight and the medical problems that come with it.

Those deciding on the surgical route face the often-baffling choice of which procedure is for them. Although there are some broad guidelines, experts say, the final choice comes down to what both patient and doctor are comfortable with.

“It’s very hard to scientifically answer the question” of which procedure is right for a patient, said Dr. Mitchell Roslin, chief of bariatric surgery at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. “Every time you answer the question, you are getting somebody’s personal bias.”

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February 25, 2011

Weight Loss Surgery: Bar for Lap Band Lowered, but Is Gastric Bypass Better?

Experts Weigh Risks, Benefits of Both Procedures

By KATIE MOISSE, ABC News Medical Unit

On the heels of a Feb. 16 decision by the Food and Drug Administration to make millions more people eligible for laparoscopic gastric banding (lap band) weight loss surgery, a new study suggests the more invasive gastric bypass may be better.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, compared the effects of lap band and gastric bypass among 200 morbidly obese patients treated at the UCSF Bariatric Surgery Program. Gastric bypass led to greater weight loss, increased resolution of diabetes and improved quality of life one year after surgery, they reported today in Archives of Surgery.

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February 17, 2011

TOGA Weight Loss Procedure – Incision Free Bariatric Surgery

A new endoscopic surgical procedure is helping patients lose weight and avoid the scars.

A new scarless procedure known as TOGA is changing the face of bariatric surgery. This incision free treatment helps patients to lose weight as with other bariatric weight loss surgeries, but this procedure is doesn’t need a scalpel.

“This is quite different,” says Dr. Gregg Nishi of the Khalili Center for Bariatric Care in Beverly Hills. “You wouldn’t really even put it in the same category with the other bariatric surgeries.” He says that all of the other weight loss operations involve cutting through the stomach to get to the internal organs. TOGA on the other hand, is endoscopic.

“The TOGA is a new wave of technology which involves endoscopic procedures where you put devices down the mouth and in the esophagus and operate on the stomach from within,” describes Dr. Nishi.

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