FAQ

As a general rule all bariatric procedures will require general anaesthesia for a safer outcome.

Surgery on obese people may take slightly longer to perform than normal individuals. Depending on the nature of surgery, your operation may take between 60 minutes to a few hours.

If the surgery is uneventful, feeding can be started on the same day for sleeve gastrectomy once the patient has recovered completely from the effects of anaesthesia. Patients undergoing Gastric bypass and other malabsorptive procedures will be started on liquid diet 24 hours after surgery

For most operations, 4 – 6 hours after surgery you will be able to return to your normal activities such as getting in and out of the bed, walking, going to the bathroom, etc. However some can take up to 24 hours depending on their age and co-morbidities.

Post operative tests may no be necessary for sleeve gastrectomy or other restrictive procedures. In case of Gastric bypass & other malabsoprtive procedures, you may undergo Gastrograffin study 24 hours after surgery. If there is no demonstrable leak in the bowel, patient will be fed orally.

Depending on the type of surgery you may most likely be discharged home on the day after surgery or two days later. After a complex or revision surgery. Sometimes patients will spend a long time (with severe comorbidities like sleep apnoea) to be fully functional without support before discharge. In general, hospital stay for Bariatric surgery is significantly like any other laparoscopic surgery.

No. Because of anesthetic and pain medications, you will not be able to drive immediately after surgery due to poor refluxes and discomfort.

Patients can be able to do routine house hold works like cooking, climbing stairs, etc in a span of three to five days. Within one week many patients are able to return to work. For the first 4 weeks after surgery, patients are advised to avoid strenuous activities or lifting very heavy weights. After that you can resume more strenuous activities.

You need to keep the surgical sites clean and dry (that means no showering or bathing except sponge baths) for the first two days after surgery. After that you may remove the bandages, shower, and expose the sites to water and soap.

Yes. After 48 hours, you should remove you bandages but leave the area clean and dry. You should take atmost care not to disturb the wound area until your next office visit.

No. We will be using absorbable subcuticular sutures that are buried inside the skin and don’t need to remove them. Sometimes, we will be using interrupted sutures over the skin, but still they need not be removed and will dissolve by themselves in 2 weeks.

Minilaparoscopy, or pinhole surgery, uses much smaller surgical instruments (about 1/4 the of an inch in diameter) almost half the size of laparoscopic techniques (about 1/2 of an inch in diameter). The main advantage will be a reduction in the size of the scar and less pain after surgery.

Since this laparoscopic technique involves, one small naval incision for laparoscopy, and not three holes like in conventional laparoscopy, theoretically speaking pain is less and recovery is faster. However, cosmesis is the most important advantage due to its literally invisible scars immediately after surgery.

If your Body Mass Index is not very high ( > 45), you are not suffering from life-threatening complications, large abdominal apron displacing the navel way below the regular position, or any previous abdominal surgeries with long midline scars, then you can be a candidate for SILS surgery.

Robotic surgery is the latest trend in bariatric surgery which gives the advantage of surgical safety with technical precision, least complications and blood loss coupled with patients comfort like less pain and faster recovery.

Laparoscopic bariatric surgery at times becomes more complex and difficult on super obese patient (BMI > 50) which adds to the risk of post-operative complications. Hence a 2 stage procedure or a less effective surgical option may be suggested for treatment. Robotics will help avoid this confusion and can be useful to perform the more complex procedures on patients with any BMI as a single stage procedure.

Advantages of SILS bariatric surgery come at no significant additional cost. Robotic surgery will cost you 30% more than laparoscopic option, however the advantages of safety, precision & recovery outplays this increase.

There are few endoluminal Bariatrics available for people interested in excess weight loss of 20 – 30 % and better control of diabetes along with medicines. However you need to be evaluated before making a decision on the eligibility criteria.

Our institute performed Asia’s first Endoscopic Bariatric Surgery way back in 2012. We perform all forms of endoscopic weight loss surgeries including endoscopiesfor revisions and complications in our center on a regular basis.

You should consult us. Thorough evaluation of nutrition intake, energy expenditure, and other reasons for weight gain / poor weight loss have to be evaluated. Our nutritionist will modify you diet pattern to aid with more weight loss.

Revision Bariatric surgery is a more complex procedure and is performed only in very few tertiary centers like us across the world. A malabsorptive component is added if restriction alone was done in primary surgery or stronger malabsorption is added on previous primary malabsorption to achieve expected weight loss.