KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsNew Revision Surgery For Gastric Bypass
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More than 200-thousand people in the U.S. had weight loss surgery last year and experts say an estimated 10 to 15-percent could benefit from revisional surgery down the road. Now there's a new option for that.
These pictures are a reminder Ramona Maltby doesn't need from her life-long struggle to lose weight. Ramona says, "If it's out there, I have tried it." In 2005, weighing 278 pounds, she had gastric bypass surgery and lost 100 pounds within a year. Ramona says, "My quality of life completely changed." But her weight plateaued while she wanted to continue loosing and she started to gain a little. Ramona says, "You don't have that same feeling that you did in the beginning where you absolutely could care less whether you ate or not."
So last month, Ramona had another procedure called Stomaphyx. It's a non-invasive, out-patient procedure. Her surgeon went in through her mouth, down her esophagus, and into her stomach. Dr. David Ward says, "That stomach you make it smaller and by pulling tissue over the connection between the stomach and the small bowel it actually slows the time for the food to empty." That allows patients to feel full longer and thus eat less and lose weight.
But some bariatric surgeons question whether patients should be offered another surgery. Dr. Greg Dakin says, "Obviously these patients are looking for something, particularly the ones that have gained a lot of weight back, but it's unclear whether any procedure will offer them a long term solution."
The risk of complications is low for the Stomaphyx procedure and the recovery is quick. Ramona was back at work the day after surgery and says she once again has the control she needs when eating.
