Someone recently posed this question on social media: If the first procedure went well, why might someone need revision surgery after bariatric surgery? We caught up with Dr. Sasse for an answer.
Revision Surgery After Bariatric Surgery: Why?
The science and our understanding of obesity and metabolism has a long way to go. We have learned many of the key mechanisms that lead so many millions of people to become seriously, overweight and obese, but there is a great deal more to learn.
Bariatric surgery is the most effective tool we have in the treatment of obesity, but its results are widely variable because human beings and biology are widely variable. For example, the surgery works primarily by causing a change in the family of hormones that regulate fat storage and bodyweight across time. But some people have family genetics that leave them more susceptible to more severe obesity and weight gain than other people. That means the surgery is perfect based upon everything we know, but the way the individual person, their hormones, their biology, and yes, even their behavior, responds to each procedure is widely variable. We know, for example, that after any of the surgical procedures, a percentage of individuals, say in the neighborhood of 10-15% at the 10-year mark, will have regained most or all of that weight. Many of them would benefit from a revision procedure that induces some additional biological change.
Basically, the surgery is the best tool we have against a very formidable disease condition that we don’t fully understand. One day we hope to have treatments that are even better. For now, we have been very fortunate that the surgery has become more effective, less invasive, safer, simpler, and more durable than it was in the past. We are also grateful that revision options have developed that can provide hope even when the original surgery didn’t produce the lasting home run-type results we had hoped for. And unfortunately, we don’t have alternative treatments that are anywhere near as good. Even very intensive multidisciplinary behavior, modification type programs, medications, intensive diet, exercise, trainers, psychotherapy, hypnosis, everything you can think of—the studies of these treatments show they’re massively inferior in terms of helping someone reduce weight and live a longer healthier life.
The bottom line? Surgery is definitely imperfect, but it’s the best tool we’ve got so far. If you’d like to learn more about bariatric surgery or revision surgery, the team at Nevada Surgical is here to answer your questions. Contact us today to get started.
