How to decide between gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy?
In my opinion this needs to be a team based approach. The team being the patient, the patient’s family, if included, and your surgeon. First, I always want input from our patients about the surgery they are most interested in. Their perspective is usually based on first-hand account (i.e. someone in the family or close friend had the surgery) and personal research–mostly obtained via the internet. This basis usually drives the decision making process 90% of the time.
Secondly, the decision for the surgery is very dependent on underlying medical conditions that may be present. For example, if someone present with significant diabetes, such as insulin dependency, the best surgical choice may be the gastric bypass. This procedure provides not only excellent weight loss potential, but more importantly excellent improvement or potential resolution of the diabetes.
The patient should never be limited in their choice of surgery, however, the best surgical option should be discussed and tailored based on each patient’s needs from a weight loss potential, medical conditions or a combination of both.
Deciding which surgery is best for you is never an easy decision and should be made as a team effort with input from all team members.
