Our surgeons are available to answer any questions you may have about bariatric surgery.
Before we decide to carry out an operation, we need to clarify whether bariatric surgery is an option for you and which operation is most suitable. This includes a number of preliminary examinations, for example blood tests, a gastroscopy and a psychiatric/psychosomatic assessment. It can take two to four months to carefully complete these examinations. This requires a little patience, but is time well and properly invested, helping you to prepare for the procedure in the best possible way and to reduce the risk of surgery as much as possible.
Our waiting times for an operation appointment are usually four to six weeks. Your hospital stay after a gastric bypass or tubular stomach is around three days if the procedure is uncomplicated. As a rule, we will issue a certificate of incapacity for work for up to three weeks.
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Usual examinations before bariatric surgery
- Routine examinations such as physical examination, blood analysis, ultrasound
- Investigation of the current health and nutritional status
- Discussion with the nutritionists concerning eating habits and information about possible changes in eating behavior.
- Psychiatric/psychosomatic expert opinion
- Gastroscopy
- The optimization of therapy for accompanying diseases to reduce the risk of surgery
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Further clarifications necessary depending on the situation
- To assess the risk of anesthesia: ECG, stress ECG, lung X-ray, lung function.
- Examination of the esophagus with acid and pressure measurement (especially in case of planned tubular stomach surgery)
- Ultrasound examination of the heart, imaging of the coronary arteries
- Pneumological clarification/sleep laboratory
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Cost coverage
The costs of the operation, anesthesia, inpatient stay, medications, etc. are covered by Swiss health insurance companies if
- a body mass index (BMI) of more than 35 kg/m2 is present
- two years of adequate weight loss therapy has been unsuccessful, i.e. if a BMI below 35 kg/m2 cannot be achieved and maintained during this time or afterwards
- the procedure is performed in a center accredited by the Swiss Society for the Study of Morbid Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (SMOB).
Established operation methods
Tube stomach - sleeve resection
The tubular stomach is the most commonly performed surgical method in the world. In this surgical technique, part of the stomach is completely removed. What remains is a narrow tube of about two to three centimeters (residual stomach), through which significantly less food can be absorbed. The feeling of satiety also sets in much faster as a result. On the one hand, this is certainly the result of the significant reduction in stomach volume. On the other hand, the latest medical studies indicate that changes in hormones occur after the procedure, which have a lasting and positive effect on eating behavior. Another advantage of the tubular stomach is that the duration of the operation is usually shorter than with a gastric bypass. Also, this method is often preferred for extremely overweight people.
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
Gastric bypass is one of the most widespread and best established methods of achieving significant weight reduction through surgery. Here, similar to the tubular stomach, the stomach is significantly reduced in size so that much less food can be absorbed. However, unlike the tubular stomach, the remaining stomach is not completely removed, but remains in the body and produces digestive juices. Furthermore, the small intestine is diverted (bypass) in such a way that food and digestive juices can only mix later in the small intestine.
This anatomical "remodeling" of your gastrointestinal tract causes a variety of complex reactions in the body that are the subject of intense research efforts. Importantly, these reactions lead to a decrease in your sense of hunger with a simultaneous increase in your sense of satiety. So, unlike dieting, you stop eating after gastric bypass surgery because you are no longer hungry, not because your diet plan tells you to (although you are still hungry).
We will be happy to inform you in detail during our consultation about the advantages and disadvantages of the different surgical options and which method might be best for you.
Aftercare
To ensure that you benefit from bariatric surgery for the rest of your life, you must attend regular follow-up appointments. At these appointments, we will look at your weight history together and discuss how your diet can be improved if necessary. This should be adapted to the new situation after the operation and optimally support the weight progress, but at the same time also ensure that no deficiencies arise. A careful survey of your complaints should reveal any occasional problems after the operation. In addition, we carry out blood tests to show whether your body is lacking certain nutrients such as vitamins or minerals, so that you can supplement your diet if necessary.
Follow-up examinations take place somewhat more frequently during the first one to two years after surgery (usually one month after surgery, then every three to six months); if progress is good, they can later be reduced to annual check-ups.
Certified center of excellence for bariatric surgery
