The death of Wadih, the son of the Syrian artist, George Wassouf, on Friday, left several question marks about the risks and benefits of gastric banding, the dangers of the stomach reduction operation, and the contributions that may occur after it.
Al Markaziya said that Wadih died after undergoing gastric sleeve surgery (stomach reduction).
Should we be afraid of these operations and not submit to them? What are the side effects that occur after the operation? What are the risks and benefits of gastric banding? And when should a person undergo gagging?
Surgeon and member of the American Academy of Plastic Surgery, Dr. Charbel Sassine, indicates during an interview with Al-Hurra that “any surgery that the patient performs can lead to bleeding,” explaining that “the stomach is fed by arteries from the outside and inside, and it can cause bleeding.” During or one or two days after the operation.
Sassine added, “The surgeon must evaluate the patient’s condition well, and assess the advantages and disadvantages of performing the operation,” before proceeding with it.
He explained that to assess the situation, “we calculate the so-called BMI, the body mass index, which is a mathematical process based on the weight and height of the patient, and if it is found that he has severe obesity, then a stomach reduction operation must be performed to protect the patient from the dangers of obesity.”
“Likewise, if the patient suffers from pressure and diabetes problems, and we are sure that they are the source of these diseases, obesity, then we can go towards the option of reducing the stomach,” says Sassin.
And he points out that “the period in which a person is most exposed to bleeding after the operation is 48 hours after the surgery, and this risk decreases gradually, and bleeding may occur after 3 or 4 days, but in a small percentage.”
For his part, the former president of the Lebanese Society of Plastic Surgery, Elie Abdel-Haq, confirms that “the one who performs the gastric banding operation is a general surgeon, while the plastic surgeons’ role comes after the operation to treat sagging. Because in gastric banding operations, the person’s weight decreases by more than 25 kilograms.”
And he stressed that “it is not permissible to fear the gastric banding process and say that it causes bleeding, because bleeding may occur to a person after any surgery.”
He explained that “the possibility of fatal bleeding is low, and during its occurrence, if it occurs, the doctor performs an emergency surgery and ends the bleeding, and the patient gets a quantity of blood.”
He stated that “the death rate as a result of stomach reduction is low, and whoever performs the surgery is already suffering from health problems, as a result of excessive obesity.”
According to the “Mayo Clinic” website, the sleeve gastrectomy, also called vertical sleeve gastrectomy, is a surgical procedure to lose weight. This procedure is usually performed laparoscopically, which involves inserting tiny instruments through multiple small incisions in the upper abdomen. During the sleeve gastrectomy procedure, approximately 80 percent of the stomach is removed, leaving a part of it that looks like a tube and is the size and shape of a banana.
Reducing the size of the stomach limits the amount of food a person can consume.
Moreover, the procedure induces hormonal changes that aid weight loss. These same hormonal changes help relieve conditions associated with being overweight, such as high blood pressure or heart disease.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “As with any major surgery, gastric sleeve surgery carries potential health risks, both in the short and long term, and risks can include severe bleeding, infection, adverse reaction to anesthesia, blood clots, lung problems or Breathing, leaks from the cut edge of the stomach, and long-term risks and complications can include gastrointestinal obstruction, hernias, and hypoglycaemia.
