Fast Weight Loss Surgery

Liposuction – For fast weight loss, you really can’t beat liposuction. However, as with any surgery, liposuction carries some amount of risk. The risk increases with the number of areas to be treated and with the length of the surgery. Removal of large amounts of fat requires a longer operating time and therefore increases the risk associated with surgery.

The primary risks of liposuction are as follows:

• Infection
• Extended healing time
• Allergic reaction to medication or anesthesia
• Fat or blood clots – clots can migrate to the lungs and lead to death
• Excessive fluid loss – fluid loss can lead to shock and, in some cases, death
• Fluid accumulation – fluid must be drained
• Friction burns
• Damage to the skin or nerves
• Damage to vital organs

It is also important to remember that patients who are immuno-compromised or suffer from diabetes, poor blood circulation, or heart or lung disease should not undergo liposuction.

In addition to the primary risks listed above, each of the different techniques (tumescent, super-wet, and ultrasound-assisted liposuction) can create other problems. Risks associated with specific techniques include:

• Skin or deep tissue damage – heat created during Ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL) may cause damage to the skin or deeper tissue areas.
• Lidocaine toxicity – this occurs when the proportion of lidocaine in the solution administered during tumescent and super-wet techniques is too high.
• Fluid accumulation – if too much fluid is administered with the tumescent liposuction procedure, it can accumulate in the lungs.

There are also some factors that can influence the final result of your liposuction procedure:

• Decreased skin elasticity may lead to an irregular or “baggy” skin surface – this is common in older patients.
• Numbness
• Pigmentation changes

Stomach Staple – The stomach staple or gastric bypass surgery, has seen a lot of media coverage lately. This surgery, which requires a general anesthetic, involves stapling off a portion of the stomach, usually to the size of a thumb. The lower intestine is then routed to this new “pouch” and digestion continues as normal. The benefit of this procedure is that the patient, after a 2 week recovery, feels full very quickly and is not able to eat as much, which naturally promotes weight loss.

As far as a method of fast weight loss goes, this is not the best choice. The results take from months to years to emerge, and require constant upkeep to maintain. When it comes to the surgery itself, the risks are much the same as liposuction, or any other surgery for that matter.

The primary risks of the stomach staple are as follows:

• Internal bleeding
• Tearing of the stomach lining
• Frequent vomiting due to “overcrowding” of the stomach
• The phenomenon known as “dumping”, in which food is not digested properly or too quickly and is expelled in the form of painful diarrhea.

This procedure costs roughly $20,000 and is often covered by medical insurance. Not covered by insurance however, is the plastic surgery needed to remove the excess skin left over once the weight is lost. This skin can weigh as much as 20 pounds in some cases, and the surgery to remove it is expensive.

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