BMI

At BMI, we don’t generally talk about our successes. We focus, instead, on the science, the details that are not covered in counseling sessions with patients and their families. This is probably why we are on the first page of Google on most of the search terms for bariatric surgery. Once in a while, we [...]

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As you may or may not know, mortality in bariatric surgery occurs at a very acceptable 0.2-0.3% rate. Compare this to gall bladder or appendix surgery (0.3 to 0.4%). This means that in this class of obese people, if we operate on a thousand, two will die. If you take these same thousand people and [...]

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Almost all people (with the exception of some bariatric surgeons) believe that the sleeve gastrectomy is a safer operation than the gastric bypass because of the ease and simplicity of the procedure, as also the possibility of leaks in the latter case (multiple staple lines). At the root of the confidence of many surgeons is [...]

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After the initial (and highly popular, if I may say so) posts on the subject (see Parts One and Two), we will now talk about what we have gained in terms of experience and insight about this subject. I had jokingly noted how BMI has not had a leak in many years. This year (obviously our busiest [...]

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Those who undergo or contemplate bariatric surgery do so essentially as a second chance at life. I mean that the severely obese man or woman feels that he (or she) has lost out in life on multiple fronts. Here are a few examples:
Loss of body contour/beauty: you can’t forget how you were once before the fat started piling on.
Poor self image: you hate the thing you see in the mirror.
Poor quality of life: you can’t dance, surf, skip, run or walk without some kind of pain or discomfort. Going up one floor makes you breathless. You avoid holidays where you would need to walk, especially on hilly terrain.

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Weight loss after the lap gastric bypass is a well known fact. What is less known is that there is a certain degree of weight regain in some patients in the long term. Before we proceed, do you know what is a lap gastric bypass all about? An important factor to be considered by every [...]

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Lap Gastric Bypass Animation The bypass (as it is called in short) is an operation that is used for severe obesity and related diseases like Type II Diabetes Mellitus. It has excellent results in the short as well as the long term. It consists of the following steps: 1. Laparoscopic (keyhole) access into the abdominal [...]

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When we started out on doing the sleeve gastrectomy a few years back, it was typically over a 60Fr bougie. The important thing, we learnt, was not to leave any part of the fundus of the stomach behind. This was the important technical thing to check. Our old patients have all done well. Since the [...]

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Note: This article discusses only Type II Diabetes Mellitus It has always been a given for generations that ‘once a diabetic, always a diabetic’. Absolutely like the truism for high blood pressure, asthma and hypothyroidism. You know that if you are unlucky enough to get these labels stuck on you, you are going to take [...]

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I, like many others, have long believed that science will, one day, announce the discovery of a pill that will end obesity. One pill, and pow! no more cravings, and fat will melt off your muscles like wax from a lit candle. (pic: bmj.com) Many companies have clearly shared that fantasy or vision. Billions of [...]

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