Gastric Plication Surgery - Know More About This Surgery!

Gastric Plication Surgery is a more or less new, minimally invasive bariatric surgery, which ensures the reduction in the size of the stomach by getting it folded. Thus the organ’s volume gets decreased by nearly 75%, thereby leading to the patient feeling as if his or her stomach has become full after eating a meal and hence naturally resulting in quite a significant loss of weight. As the anatomy of the digestive system in this case does not get altered, this whole procedure is reversible.

How is gastric plication surgery performed?
A patient would always require undergoing a number of tests before any kind of surgery and the same thing is applied here as well. A series of tests along with other medical examinations get conducted in order to determine if an individual is a suitable candidate for gastric plication. In this manner, the bariatric specialist would get to know and become certain if the procedure would involve any serious risks for the patient. Some of the tests that a potential candidate for would not undergo are:

1. Blood tests like blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, electrolytes and a complete blood count.
2. Echocardiogram
3. X-ray of the chest
4. Pulmonary Function Tests
5. Electrocardiogram
6. Flexible Sigmoidoscopy
7. Sleep Tests
8. Ultrasound of the abdomen
9. Upper Endoscopy
10. Complete evaluation and clearance by a registered dietician
11. Complete evaluation and clearance given by a cardiologist
12. Evaluation and clearance given by mental health care professionals like psychiatrist, therapist or psychologist.

Once, a candidate is considered to be eligible for surgery, the concerned person would receive instructions to follow before the gastric placation, which include:

• Avoiding some foods two weeks prior to the surgery in order to reduce the amount of fat around one’s spleen and liver.
• One must not eat or drink anything, minimum 12 hours before the surgery

At the time of the surgery 

• A patient would be put under general anaesthesia, with nurse to constantly monitor the crucial signs while the procedure is undergoing.
• As and when the patient becomes asleep and numb, the surgeon would make five to seven small cuts in the abdomen and then insert the laparoscope along with other medical equipments to carry out the process.
• He would then sew one or a number of large folds in the stomach with the sole purpose of compressing the size of the organ.
• The fact that not a single portion of one’s stomach is cut out and also the anatomy does not involve any change, the procedure is reversible nature.
• The end of the surgery would see the surgeon closing the cuts down with sutures and hence covering each one of them with sterilized dressing.