Research Suggests Reflux May Be A Problem For Sleeve Patients | WCJB TV-20

Your Health: Research Suggests Reflux May Be A Problem For Sleeve Patients

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Have you experienced this as a VSG patient?

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From 

http://www.wcjb.com/your-health-local-news-health/2013/11/your-health-research-suggests-reflux-may-be-problem-sleeve

"Surgery is just a tool that provides them the ability and minimizes their hunger, but the rest has to do with educating the patient and making sure they're compliant with their diet," Ben-David says.

 

There are some potential downsides, with any major surgery you have the risk of complications. But, with gastric sleeve surgery, Dr. Ben-David noticed more of his patients having one particular problem.  

 

"A good portion often have reflux following this type of procedure," he says.

 

Gastroesophegal reflux is typically a comorbidity of obesity that decreases with weight loss, but research from UF Health found the gastric sleeve may cause it to occur or increase in some patients, even after losing weight.  In most cases the reflux is treatable with medication.  But he says in a very small number of patients, it can be so debilitating they end up changing the sleeve into a traditional Roux en Y gastric bypass.

 

"I think whether you have the sleeve gasterectomy or the Roux en Y bypass, it's important to know this is a lifetime commitment for the patient," Ben-David says, "that the risks of the surgeries are the same and the requirements for post operative care should be the same."

 

Gross says she's been fortunate not to experience reflux as she's lost weight, but says even if she had, she still woudn't regret the surgery.

 

Bariatric surgery has been the subject of criticism from some who say it's cheating to lose weight. But doctors say these procedures are designed to get weight off quickly to treat deadly comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension.  Without proper diet and exercise, patients can gain the weight back.