VERTICAL BANDED GASTROPLASTY

Abstract

Obesity surgery is not just another operation that any general surgeon can add to his or her operative list. The surgeon must be familiar with the advantages of each of the operations avail­ able. Realistic goals must be established and communicated to patients.

• VBG is simple, low- risk operation that leaves the digestive tract in a normal anatomic relationship so that there is minimal risk of late complications and no predisposition to malabsorption.

• Patients deserve to be followed for life and to be included in a database that provides opportunity for comparison of results with worldwide pooled results, as in the International Bariatric Surgery Registry.

• The selection criteria in the present study were based on evaluation of dietary and eating habits. If the patient had failed at previous supervised short term weight loss attempts, had a tendency towards bulimic or compulsive eating behavior, or had a high consumption of a sweets or snakes, the RGBP was the operation of the· choice. If none of these behaviors were pres­ ent, then VBG as the option.

• Bread eaters who underwent VBG had to know that inapp­ ropriate eating patterns such as consuming high calorie liquid diet and easily dissolvable foods make the operation unsucces­ sful.