If you suffer from severe obesity and have been unable to lose weight, your doctor may
recommend robotic bariatric surgery.
Your digestive system or gastrointestinal tract includes your mouth, esophagus, stomach,
small intestine, and large intestine.
Your pancreas, liver, and gall bladder squirt digestive juices into your small intestine
to help break down the food you eat.
Your doctor may recommend bariatric surgery if you are unable to lose weight and keep
it off through diet and exercise alone, have a body mass index or BMI above 40, have a
BMI above 35 and you have a life-threatening condition such as heart disease or diabetes,
or weigh more than 100 pounds over your ideal body weight or IBW.
Bariatric surgery helps you lose weight by decreasing the size of your stomach so that
it holds less food and makes you feel full more quickly.
Your procedure may include bypassing some of your small intestine to decrease the length
of the path of food through your digestive system as well as the amount of calories absorbed
from the food.
Before your procedure an intravenous line or IV will be started.
You may be given antibiotics through the IV to decrease your chance of infection.
You’ll be give general anesthesia.
A breathing tube will be inserted through your mouth and down your throat to help you
breathe during the operation.
Your surgeon will make a small incision near your belly button and insert a plastic tube
called a port.
Carbon dioxide gas will be pumped into your abdomen through this port.
The gas will inflate the abdomen, giving your surgeon more room to see and move the surgical
tools.
After your abdomen is inflated, a high-definition camera will be inserted into this port.
Your surgeon will make additional port incisions for robotic instruments as well as instruments
used by patient-side assistants.
An assistant will insert all of the robotic tools through these ports.
Unlike standard laparoscopic instruments, these tools can rotate 360-degrees and have
more flexibility than the human wrist.
Seated at a special console, your surgeon will operate the robotic arms and the camera
with joystick-like controls and foot pedals.
A computer will translate the exact movements of your surgeon’s fingers into precise movements
of the surgical tools.
At the same time, a high-definition vision system will provide a magnified, three-dimensional,
stereoscopic view of the surgical area.
Two common robotic bariatric procedures are adjustable gastric banding and gastric bypass.
If you are having an adjustable gastric banding procedure, your surgeon will apply a restrictive
band around your stomach to limit the amount of food your stomach can hold.
Tubing will connect the band to a port just beneath the skin of your abdomen.
Your surgeon will inject saline solution into the tubing to adjust the band’s tightness
as needed to hasten your weight loss or reduce side effects.
If you are having a gastric bypass procedure, your surgeon will create a small pouch in
your stomach and separate the rest of your stomach and upper section of your small intestine.
The lower section of your small intestine will be attached to the stomach pouch.
Then your surgeon will reattach the upper section of your small intestine to a different
part of your lower small intestine which will allow digestive juices from your pancreas,
liver, and gall bladder to help digest your food.
At the end of your procedure, the incision will be closed with stitches, staples, surgical
glue, or closure tape dressings.
After your procedure, your breathing tube will be removed, and you will be taken to
the recovery area for monitoring.
You will be given pain medication as needed.
You will continue to receive antibiotics through you IV.
Most patients are released from the hospital one to two days after the procedure.