Current medical technology has placed us on the very edge of a new frontier. Surgical procedures that aid in weight loss and that prevent further recurrences are now a thing of the present. Gone are the days of administering potentially dangerous medications to morbidly obese patients in the hopes of diminishing their obesity-related health problems (i.e. cardiovascular disease risk). Gone are the days of painstakingly waiting years for a patient to reach a stable weight for when he/she could function normally within our society. This time is very fascinating indeed because we live in the times of bariatric surgery.
These procedures are ever-increasing in popularity because of their scarce time investment; for example a once-in-a-lifetime 2 hour procedure has documented life-long benefits! Also their continuously diminishing low incidences of complications and side effects have made these procedures even more desirable amongst obese patients.
There are however a few key points that must be adhered to after a procedure, for example taking supplements like vitamins and minerals, doing follow-up laboratory workups, lap-band readjustments (if needed) and frequent weighings, etc. These follow-up measures are taken to ensure that every aspect of post-surgery life is going according to the desired weight-loss plan.
An additional benefit that these procedures have is that there are various types of surgeries from which to choose: lap-band, gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion, just to name a few. Each procedure carries its own risks, benefits and post-procedural follow-up points, which can enable the bariatric surgeon to precisely tailor each treatment course for each patient.
This highly customizable approach has granted excellent results in a myriad of different situations: a high BMI with a low tolerance for post-procedural follow-ups can have a gastric sleeve procedure; a patient with a moderate to high BMI with high tolerance for such follow-ups can have a lap-band procedure, and so on. Procedures and costs are then tailored to suit every individual patients’ needs. There are incalculable ways in which these types of surgeries have helped patients coming from different backgrounds and needs.
Aside from the oftentimes painstaking chore of selecting a surgeon to perform these procedures, a well-known clinical center is hard to find. Thanks to the increasing need for a way to categorize different international clinical centers and distinguish the ones who stand out above the rest, The Surgical Review Corporation has created ICE (International Center of Excellence). An ICE certification is given only to clinical centers that offer a plethora of minimal required characteristics (commonly some centers even surpass these requirements and offer more).
We at LIMARP have been very proud of our recent SRC: ICE certification, we strive to offer the very best in surgical and medical care for all of our patients and we intend to provide excellent medical services in every procedure done at our hospital.
Come and visit our website, or if you’re in the neighborhood come and visit our hospital. We are always glad to meet you and we are always up for answering any and all questions.
Best regards to all.
-LIMARP staff
For more information regarding ICE and their requirements go to http://www.surgicalreview.org/ice/overview/#ICE
Also be sure to visit SRC’s webpage for more info on surgery centers of excellence. http://www.surgicalreview.org/