Gastric Bypass in Iran

Gastric Bypass Procedure in Iran:

Gastric bypass typically takes a few hours. The details of your operation highly depend on your individual situation and your doctor's viewpoint. While some surgeries are performed with traditional open incisions in your abdomen, most of them involve inserting instruments through multiple small incisions in the abdomen.

After making the incisions with the open or laparoscopic technique, the surgeon cuts across the top of your stomach, sealing it off from the rest of your stomach. The resulting pouch is about the size of a walnut and can hold only about an ounce of food. Next, the specialist cuts the small intestine and sews part of it directly onto the pouch. The procedure is done by connecting the top portion of the divided small intestine to the small intestine further down. Because of these procedures, food will have to go into the small pouch of stomach and then directly into the small intestine sewn to it. The stomach acids and digestive enzymes from the bypassed stomach and first portion of small intestine will finally mix with the food.

This operation works through several mechanisms. First, the new stomach pouch is considerably smaller and digests less food. There is also a segment of small intestine that normally absorbs calories as well as nutrients. It will make less absorption of calories and nutrients more probable. The last point to indicate is that the rerouting of the food stream changes the gut hormones that promote satiety, suppress appetite, and reverse one of the major mechanisms by which obesity causes type 2 diabetes.

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

To perform this surgery, specialists make a small stomach pouch by stapling part of the stomach together or by vertical banding. This limits how much food you can consume. Then, they attache a Y-shaped section of the small intestine to the pouch. That creates a bypass for food, so it skips part of your digestive system. Therefore, you absorb fewer calories and nutrients.

This type of operation is commonly performed since:

• It produces remarkable long-term weight loss (60 to 80 percent excess weight loss)
• It may increase energy expenditure
• It produces satisfying changes in gut hormones that decrease appetite and enhance satiety
• It has a quicker recovery time compared to the other technique

Extensive Gastric Bypass

This is a fairly complex surgery in which doctors remove the lower part of the stomach. Afterwards, they connect the small pouch that remains directly to the last part of the small intestine, completely bypassing the first two parts. Despite the fact that it can result in weight loss, it's not commonly carried out because of its high complication rate and restrictions on nutrients.

Pre-Operative Considerations for having Gastric Bypass in Iran:

During your gastric bypass consultation, you should talk to a board-certified plastic surgeon with good before-and-after photos about your goals and expectations, medical conditions such as drug allergies, and current medications like vitamins or herbal supplements you use. Prior preparation is an important step in this process.

Then, your surgeon will:

• Review your medical history
Ask you about previous surgeries
• Evaluate your overall health to make sure that other medical issues you might have, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart or lung issues, are under control.
• Examine your body thoroughly.
• Order some lab tests like blood tests.
• Give nutritional counseling.
• Take photos for your medical record.
• Ask you to stop smoking since tobacco will slow both recovery and healing process.
• Ask you to avoid taking some medications like aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs, and herbal supplements for a while before and after the operation since they can increase bleeding and bruising.
• Discuss the available options.
• Recommend a course of treatment.
• Discuss likely outcomes and potential complications.

Gastric Bypass Recovery:

You will usually have to stay in hospital for one to four days after the operation. On the same day, you will be asked to walk a little. You won’t be able to eat for the first one to three days. Then, drinking liquids and eating soft foods will be permitted.

Meanwhile, you can take pills to relieve pain if prescribed by your surgeon. When you can easily move around without a lot of pain, you will be able to go home. It’s better to ask someone to take care of you since you should rest for a while. At first, you may have some limitation on what you can eat and drink. Your doctor will recommend taking nutritional supplements, vitamin, and mineral supplements after surgery such as a multivitamin with iron, calcium, and vitamin B-12. Most patients are able to go back to work in one or two weeks. For the first month, you will only be able to eat small amounts of soft food and liquids. Gradually, you can add solid foods back into your diet. During this period, you will feel full very quickly after eating about two tablespoons of food. In the first several months, you should have medical checkups frequently to evaluate your overall situation.

You don’t need to worry if your skin becomes dry or your mood changes. These are totally natural since your body reacts to the rapid weight loss in the first three to six months after the surgery. You can avoid such complications with proper care.

Gastric Bypass Results:

Within the first two years, you can expect to lose one-half to two-thirds of your extra body weight depending on your type of operation and changes in your lifestyle. Nevertheless, weight loss will decrease as time passes. By having a well-balanced diet and exercising on a regular basis, you will lose more weight. Fortunately, gastric bypass can provide long-term weight loss, enhances your ability to do routine daily activities, resolves all obesity-related problems, and finally improves your quality of life.

Gastric bypass Diet

Depending on the severity of the procedure and the patient’s overall situation, diet recommendations might vary. Consuming the special diet recommended by your surgeon will help you eat solid foods without any worries after passing the recovery process. Needless to say, how quickly you move from one step to the next highly depends on how fast your body heals and adjusts to the change in eating patterns.

At each stage of the gastric bypass diet, you will have to:

• Drink 64 ounces of fluid a day to avoid dehydration.
• Sip liquids between meals, not with meals. In addition, avoid drinking 30 minutes before eating a meal.
• Eat and drink slowly. Otherwise, foods and liquids enter your small intestine quickly and in larger amounts than normal which will cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating and diarrhea.
• Try to eat foods and drinks that are low in fats and sugar and rich in protein.
• Avoid alcohol and caffeine because they cause dehydration.
• Take vitamin and mineral supplements daily as prescribed by your medical team.

Choose foods that will puree well, namely:

• Lean ground meat, poultry or fish
• Cottage cheese
• Soft scrambled eggs
• Cooked cereal
• Soft fruits and cooked vegetables
• Strained cream soups

You are allowed to have three to five small meals a day. After about eight weeks, you can start eating solid foods. Undoubtedly, the amount of food you can eat in each meal is dependent on the extent to which your stomach can tolerate. To ensure that you are making the right decision, it’s better to consult with your dietitian.

Remember that consuming some certain foods might cause problems. The list is provided below:

• Breads
• Carbonated drinks
• Raw vegetables
• Cooked fibrous vegetables, such as celery, broccoli, corn or cabbage
• Red meat
• Fried foods
• Spicy foods
• Nuts and seeds

As time passes, you might be able to try some of these foods if permitted by your specialist.