Acency Title: Barifa Sağlık ve Turizm Travel Agency
Gastric sleeve surgery is the most basic operation of obesity surgery. Losing weight with this surgery, which is easy to perform, is very comfortable and successful.
In sleeve gastrectomy, the stomach is turned into a thin and long tube. 80 percent of the stomach is cut out laparoscopically, in other words, closed surgery. Thus, the food intake of the stomach is restricted. Since the fundus part of the stomach secreting Ghrelin (appetite hormone) is removed with this surgery, appetite decreases in postoperative patients.
With gastric sleeve surgery, the patient loses 70% of his/her excess weight. If the surgery is supported by exercise and proper eating habits, it is possible to lose all of the excess weight.
Gastric sleeve surgery is performed to people between the ages of 18-65. For people under the age of 18, the degree of obesity and the presence of concomitant diseases are important and parental consent is also required along with the physician’s decision. For people over the age of 65, the health status and the necessity of the surgery (problems experienced by the person’s weight) are evaluated.
We prefer to explain the process of gastric sleeve surgery in our clinic by exemplifying.
The patient who will be operated on Monday must arrive in Istanbul on Sunday evening at the latest. The patient is picked up from the airport by a private transfer vehicle, and left to the hotel, which is 1 minute walk from the hospital. As long as the pandemic continues, our patients are tested for PCR the moment they arrive at the hotel. The test is performed in the patient’s hotel room under hygienic conditions, and the patient does not have to go anywhere for the test. The PCR test result is available in about 6 hours. The patient should be fed with only liquids for 24 hours before the operation. The patient is told to not eat nor drink after 24 o’clock on Sunday night. On Monday, one of our teammates picks up the patient from the hotel in the morning and admits him/her to the hospital, and a detailed pre-operative health scan is done the same day. Cardiology, Radiology, Internal Medicine and General Surgery examinations are performed, endoscopy, abdominal ultrasound, cardiac ultrasound and ECG are performed, blood and urine samples are taken and run in the laboratory. If there is no obstacle in the results, surgery can be performed on the same day.
While we could make preparations one day before the operation day before the pandemic, now we do both preparation and surgery on the same day in order to minimize the risk and contact due to the pandemic.
The operation is performed under general anesthesia and laparoscopic (closed) method. It is performed with the help of a camera and surgical hand tools by entering through 4-6 holes of 1 cm and smaller in the abdominal area with the help of trocars. The operation time is 45-90 minutes.
Just before the end of the surgery, all patients are tested with the help of a liquid called methylene blue for “leakage test” and after making sure that there is no problem, the surgery is terminated by placing a drain to remove the liquids.
4-6 hours after the operation, the patient is removed from the bed and mobilized.
Patients who spend the first day and night (Monday) usually resting may feel cramping or pain due to the gas given into the abdomen during surgery. It can be kept under control with painkillers and comfort can be provided.
On the second day (Tuesday), the patient starts drinking water in the morning and we recommend more walking. The liquid nutrition process that starts with small sips is accompanied by natural apple juice on the same day.
As of the morning of the 3rd day (Wednesday), we start to give our patients liquids such as soups, milk, yoghurt and tea. During this time, our patient has already recovered from pain. And on the same day, the drain, where we observe postoperative liquids and the possibility of early leakage, is removed by the physician or surgical nurse. The patient can take a shower after the drain is removed.
Our patients, who stay in the hospital for 1 more night are usually discharged from the hospital on the 4th day (Thursday).
Even if the risk of leakage is low after these operations, it continues until the 5th day. Therefore, we recommend that all our patients stay in Istanbul for 2-3 days after discharge in terms of patient safety.
Our patients coming from abroad for health tourism are required to stay in Istanbul for 7-8 days for sleeve gastrectomy.
Our dietician and physician consultation support continues free of charge for 12 months after discharge. We ask our patients to have the blood and urine tests done which are sent by us within 1-3-6-9-12 months from the operation date. When the test results come out, we make our recommendations about nutrition, medicines and other issues by calling our patients by video on Whatsapp.
Various medications and supplements should be used for the first 3 months following the surgery. These products are presented to the patient in a special package when each patient is discharged. Which medication and nutritional supplements will be used is determined by the physician and dietician, and the package content may differ from patient to patient.
