No matter how you cut it, weight loss surgery is a major operation.
A new device could make it a lot easier for some patients. Surgeon Andrew Hargroder is pleased with the results he's gotten.
The device is called a 'spider' because it has multiple legs - the one in the middle is for a camera so the surgeon can watch what he's doing. The others are controlled by the doctor who uses them to cut, snip, and clip.
Spider gastric-sleeve weight loss surgery works on the same principle as minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures.
There are three holes, two about the size of a dime on either side of the belly button and a third no bigger than a freckle on the side.
It's a lot less cutting, which Hargroder says means less trauma for the patient. "What our patients are relaying is that they have less pain as we compare them to the standard approach. So, less pain, less pain medicine, thus getting back to work quicker, and ultimately the better cosmetic outcome."
Once inside the abdomen, the spider is used to remove up to 90-percent of the stomach to limit how much a patient will be able to eat. In that way, it's the same as traditional gastric sleeve surgery.
Like a puppet master, the doctor orchestrates every movement the spider makes by manipulating the hand grips.
While less cutting makes spider surgery more attractive for some, Hargroder says it is not right for everyone. "Much larger patients would not be a good candidate for this technique, because the instrument may not reach the areas we need to reach."
Spider weight loss surgery may offer a patient a better cosmetic result, maybe even less pain, but it's still an operation with all the risks and potential complications that go with it.
That's why doctors reserve the operations for people who are dangerously overweight.
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