The weight loss surgery landscape has changed drastically over the past few decades and has been transformed from mostly experimental technique to a safe and effective mainstream alternative to living with morbid obesity. Advances in surgical techniques and medical device manufacturing have allowed bariatric surgeons to perform the procedures with less risk, fewer complications and less scarring.
The laparoscopic, or minimally invasive approach, has become the new standard for weight loss surgery and 95% of the surgeries we perform are minimally invasive.
Most minimally invasive procedures start with the surgeon making a few tiny incision, in the abdomen, versus the traditional open procedure which requires a large, single abdominal incision. Trocars, which act as passageways for the medical devices, are placed in these tiny incisions. One of these medical devices is a laparoscope. Tube-shaped, the laparascope allows the surgeon to visualize the surgical field, essentially providing a view inside the abdominal cavity. With these devices, the surgery can be performed as effectively as with an open procedure.
The primary goal of bariatric surgery is to reduce or eliminate health problems associated with obesity. Also referred to as co-morbidities, these diseases include: type-II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea and others. Weight loss surgery has also been effective in possibly preventing some disease altogether. For example, obesity can even predispose patients to a higher risk of some forms of cancer. Weight loss can reduce that risk. Patients may be able to avoid developing diabetes or other diseases if weight loss is achieved early enough.
Here at the Bariatric Surgical Center Tuscaloosa, we perform three major bariatric procedures: gastric bypass, gastric banding and sleeve gastrectomy. In certain cases, we also perform Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery or Minimal Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS or MILS), in which the surgeon accesses the abdominal cavity through a single incision or through less incisions than normal. The result is more cosmetically pleasing through less or less visible incisions.
Gastric 
Gastric 
Gastric 
Interventional