Surgeries to treat obesity are called as major surgeries, and although no so common, as after all surgical procedures, they pose a number of risks. These risks get higher in direct proportion to the patient’s weight and age. The risk of fatality of these techniques ranges between 0.1 – 0.4%. But then again, this risk of 1-4 per thousand is an acceptable rate if the issue is considered in terms of profit/loss rate.

All surgical operation of today carry some risks; naturally, there are also risks in obesity surgery. However, an obesity surgery candidate should be examined for the operation in detail; after all examinations, patients should be operated by a professional surgical team and aftercare should be proper; this way bariatric surgery can be safely performed and the risk would significantly decrease.

All surgeries carry small or large risks; like there is some risks in gastric sleeve surgery. The age or weight of obese patients are the factors that affect this risk.

Gastric Sleeve Surgery

The death risk of patients who had gastric sleeve surgery is between 1 to 4 per thousand. This rate can be decreased to zero when the surgery is performed with a professional surgery team benefits from the latest technologies and techniques.

On the other hand, this risk is much higher if obesity patients are not treated. If any consequences of significant cardiovascular disease or liver disease occur before the surgery, the patient cannot have gastric sleeve surgery although the operation is done with laparoscopy which means small incisions are created in the abdominal wall during the surgery.

After operation, incisions should be regularly cleaned by following the hygienic rules. Otherwise, the surgical site cannot be protected from infection. Infection of the incisions causes healing of the wound to prolong. It is also possible to encounter conditions like clots or lung embolism; however, thanks to air pressure socks, the clots problem of in the legs can be reduced.

After Gastric sleeve, body loses weight very quickly starting from the 1^st week. Because of the major weight loss, the body also weakens and becomes lack of minerals and vitamins. Especially vitamin D loss is experienced a lot. As a result of all these, different problems can happen; most commonly, hair loss occurs. To minimize the harm of the reactions caused by the change of the body, the body should be supported with vitamins which are used under the supervision of a doctor. Digestive system conditions can occur as well in some of the patients who had this operation.

Although all these problems can change from patient to patient, they may appear as constipation or diarrhea. 80% of the stomach is taken out with gastric sleeve surgery, these problems which are experienced during the period of adapting the body to the new state go away in a few weeks. Sagging skin problem is also one of the problems experienced by almost every patient after gastric sleeve surgery. However with cosmetic excessive skin removal surgery, tummy tuck, droopy skin can be repaired.

Embolism risk can be fatal, and this risk continues for 3 weeks after surgery. After obesity surgery, it is less than 1%. It is the most significant and serious complication and can cause sudden death. To minimize the risk of embolism, blood thinners and embolism socks are necessary, and the patients are advised to walk as soon as possible.

Pneumonia, aspiration and lung extinction are some of the complications caused by general anesthesia and possible to be experienced after all operations. In order to lower these risks, the patients are strictly advised to quit smoking, to start walking as quickly as possible after the surgery and to practice breathing exercises. Folding around scar tissue after open bariatric surgery can stop the small bowel transitions. Another reason of intestinal obstruction is incisional hernias.

However, possible problems can be fixed again laparoscopically. Wound infections can happen after all surgeries. This rate is 5% in open surgeries. While treating these infections bandages, antibiotics, drainage, or reopening of the wound site may be required. In infected wounds, outpatient treatment is usually enough. Patients who are smoking are at bigger risk for infections.

Damage to the spleen and other organs; the spleen is situated in the upper part of the stomach and may be injured during surgery although not so common. The rate of spleen damage during laparoscopic bariatric surgery is less than 1%. If a spleen injury happens, the operation can be turned into open surgery and the spleen may need to be fixed. Pancreatitis is a rare but possible complication as well. However, these do not usually require surgical intervention.

Contact Mono Obesity Surgery to get more information about the recovery and risk of bariatric surgeries.