Bariatric surgery procedures should be treated as tools that can help you change your eating habits to gradually lose weight. Each one has its pros and cons as applied to specific cases. At Georgia Coast Surgical we have decided to limit our surgical approach to lap banding and implanting the Orbera intragastric balloon. These are the safest procedures available today. They can be done as an outpatient and produce excellent weight loss for patients who will commit to following the rules necessary to maintain healthy weight loss.

• Adjustable Gastric Banding (commonly known as the LAP-BAND®) which is currently the only procedure we offer due to its superior safety profile and excellent weight loss.
• Orbera Intragastric Balloon. Orbera is an FDA approved temporary implant to aid you in losing weight. Insurance plans do not cover this procedure.
• Roux Y Gastric Bypass. We have done hundreds of these operations and still follow patients who have had this operation. We do not currently perform this procedure but we can answer your questions about it.
• Gastric Sleeve Resection. We have done a number of these procedures but we are not currently doing them. If you have questions about this operation, we can answer them.
• Biliopancreatic Diversion. We do not offer this procedure but can refer you to surgeons who do. Dr. Kent can answer questions about this procedure during your appointment.

It is important for a patient to gain an in-depth understanding of the procedures. The best person to give you this information is your surgeon. Discuss your case with your surgeon and ask about the advantages and disadvantages of surgery. Call us today for more information on bariatric surgery in Georgia.

It’s not just about health, either. Activities of daily living are more difficult or impossible when you are carrying the weight of another person on your back. Climbing a flight of stairs is exhausting. Theater and airplane seats are made for smaller people. It is hard to get in and out of a car. You need to ask for a seat belt extender on airplanes. It can get so bad that your arms are too short to reach all parts of your body and even personal hygiene becomes a problem.

Non operative weight loss programs just don’t work for most morbidly obese people. Diet plans, exercise plans, drugs, hypnosis and even jaw wiring have all been tried. These methods may result in temporary weight loss, but study after study has shown that 5 years later all of these methods will have failed 95-98% of the time. Either people fail to lose weight, or if they do lose weight they gain it all back and then some. We call this the Yo-Yo effect. Have you been there?

In 1991 the National Institute of Health held a conference attended by experts in weight loss from all over the world. Their conclusion: “Surgery is the only way to obtain consistent, permanent weight loss for morbidly obese patients”.

In fact, surgery has been shown to achieve long term permanent weight loss in 70-80% of cases.

Weight loss surgery has helped millions of people lose excess weight and live happier and healthier lives. In our own practice we have helped hundreds of patients regain their energy, their motivation and their jobs.  They live a happier, healthier life as a result.

Bariatric surgery involves both preparations before the surgery and after-surgery care to ensure that the patient is able to gradually lose weight and remain healthy while doing it. Surgery is not a cure for obesity. It is, however, a powerful tool that our patients learn to use to permanently succeed in achieving their weight loss goals. Thus, weight loss surgery is an integrated program that involves a firm and lifelong commitment to certain lifestyle changes on the part of the patient. With this commitment, the patient is encouraged to develop and maintain these healthy habits for the rest of his/her life.

Call us today for more information on LAP-BAND® surgery.