What is the price of laparoscopic sleeve surgery?
You will find obese patients always searching for a final solution that will rid them of excess weight and the physical problems that accompany it. They try diets and exercise, and some of them may resort to using slimming herbs and medications of unknown origin.
When all methods fail, patients go to specialist doctors to request to undergo a sleeve surgery after knowing the price of the sleeve surgery, and after they heard some information about this surgery from their friends and circles of acquaintances.. Can any obese patient undergo sleeve surgery?
Conditions for laparoscopic sleeve surgery
Global statistics recorded that the rate of obesity has reached more than 39% of the total world population, which means the spread of the problem and the need to search for radical solutions to solve it.
Can everyone who is overweight undergo laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy?
Body mass index (BMI)
Calculating the body mass index is one of the most important criteria that determines the possibility of performing a gastric sleeve surgery or not. The body mass index value results from dividing the patient’s weight by the square of his height, and accordingly, the unit of measurement for this index becomes (kg/m2).
Sleeve surgery is performed if the patient's body mass index reaches:
- 40 kg/m2 or higher.
- 35 kg/m2 in conjunction with the presence of one of the diseases associated with excess weight, such as: cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
Health status and age
Before asking about the price of the gastric sleeve procedure, the patient undergoes a set of comprehensive blood tests and kidney and liver function tests with the aim of examining the general health condition and verifying the presence of any health problems such as: high blood pressure or diabetes. Discovering these problems is necessary and helps prepare the patient in a correct way before surgery to avoid any risks.
In addition to the above, the patient's age is one of the important conditions for performing a gastric sleeve operation. Doctors nominate people between the ages of 18 and 75 years, but not those who can afford the price of the gastric sleeve operation.
I notice!
The final decision, then, rests with the specialized obesity surgeon. The patient cannot decide on his own to go to the doctor and tell him about his desire to undergo gastric sleeve surgery and bear the price of the gastric sleeve surgery just because he is lazy to try normal weight loss methods such as exercise and dieting.
What after the tests?
After ensuring that all the required conditions are met in an obese patient, the doctor schedules an appointment to undergo the gastric sleeve surgery. From the time of the first visit to the clinic until the date of the operation, the doctor recommends to the patient a set of instructions related to lifestyle, including following a healthy diet, refraining from smoking, and stopping taking some medications that may interfere with the results of the surgery, such as fluid medications.
The duration of the laparoscopic sleeve surgery and its steps
The laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy procedure takes approximately one hour, and this period may increase depending on the condition of each patient, which makes the price of the gastric sleeve procedure different.
During this period, the specialist bariatric surgeon performs the following steps:
- Anesthetize the patient.
- Make three incisions in the abdominal area.
- Inflating the abdominal cavity with gas to facilitate the steps of the gastric sleeve procedure.
- Inserting the laparoscope through one of the openings in the abdomen, which is a fine surgical instrument or flexible tube that allows the surgeon to view the stomach and intestines through a tiny camera located in it.
- Through the remaining two openings, the doctor inserts surgical tools to begin the surgical steps. These tools include:
- A cauterization or cutting device, whose function includes separating 80% of the stomach’s volume and cauterizing the remaining tissue to close the blood vessels and prevent blood leakage from them.
-The stomach stapler, which staples the stomach after cutting it.
Note: The quality of the surgical tools used affects the price of the gastric sleeve operation in general. The more modern and reliable the tools are, the more expensive the operation is.
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How does gastric sleeve surgery help lose weight?
Reducing the size of the stomach by cutting 75-80% of its total natural size helps increase the feeling of fullness after eating a small amount of meals, as the stomach will not be able to accommodate large amounts of food after surgery.
In addition to the above, gastric sleeve surgery involves removing the so-called “stomach dome,” which is the part responsible for secreting the hunger hormone, which reduces the individual’s feeling of hunger after undergoing the operation.
Is gastric sleeve surgery dangerous?
Laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery does not pose any risk to patients, especially because it relies on opening small incisions in the abdomen, in addition to using very precise surgical tools that affect the price of the sleeve surgery, which limits any potential risk.
Benefits of laparoscopic sleeve surgery
There are many advantages to the laparoscopic gastric sleeve procedure that prompt those who qualify for it to pay the price of the gastric sleeve procedure, which include:
- Low risk rates due to the operation's reliance on making small incisions in the abdomen.
- Maintaining the external appearance of the abdomen, as small surgical wounds do not leave any traces or scars.
- Helping the patient lose weight by about 75 to 85% of the total original weight in a gradual and safe manner.
- Eliminate complications of weight gain, such as joint stiffness, difficulty moving, breathing disorders, and heart and arterial diseases.
The success rate of gastric sleeve surgery
Gastric sleeve operations are characterized by their high success rates exceeding 97%, as these operations help obese patients lose approximately 75 to 80% of their original weight.
The success rate of gastric sleeve surgery increases when the bariatric surgeon has extensive experience in the field of obesity surgery by performing a large number of successful operations and being familiar with the latest scientific research related to his field.
Why are patients interested in knowing the price of the gastric sleeve procedure?
The prices of gastric sleeve operations may be exorbitant for a certain group of society, while they are suitable for the budget of another group. Therefore, people who are candidates for gastric sleeve surgery often wonder about its financial cost and what elements are counted within the total cost of the operation. These elements include:
- The price of the tests that precede the operation.
- Cost of hospital stay.
- Prices of surgical instruments used for the patient. This type of operation requires the use of surgical instruments designated for each patient individually.
The price of gastric sleeve surgery in Saudi Arabia
The prices of gastric sleeve operations cannot be stated in an accurate way because hospitals and obesity treatment centers set varying costs according to the experience of the bariatric surgeon, the quality of surgical tools, and the level of health care provided.
Also learn about the price of the smart capsule and the price of the gastric balloon in Saudi Arabia
Available alternatives to gastric sleeve surgery
After we learned about the price, conditions, and benefits of the gastric sleeve surgery, the conversation takes us to an important question, which is: What are the surgical alternatives available for weight loss if the patient’s health conditions do not allow him to undergo the gastric sleeve surgery?
If the conditions for gastric sleeve surgery are not compatible with an obese patient, the doctor will recommend an operation called gastric bypass surgery, which is suitable for people who are voracious about eating sweets and carbohydrates and who suffer from obesity and diabetes at the same time.
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