| Bariatric Surgery.info Gastric Ring Surgeries - eg. Silastic Ring Vertical Banded Gastroplasty |
Use of Gastric Rings in Stomach Bypass
and Gastroplasty |
Gastric Ring SurgeryBariatric surgeons use gastric silastic rings in both gastroplasty and gastric bypass operations to maintain the function and width of the stoma. A silastic ring is flexible, but inelastic, so is particularly useful for this stoma-maintenance role. Silastic Gastric Ring in GastroplastyIn vertical banded gastroplasty, through the use of gastric staples, the stomach is divided into two sections - an upper (proximal) stomach pouch and a lower (distal) stomach section. A small gap (stoma) in the staple-line is left to allow digested food in the pouch to pass through into the distal stomach. Because the upper stomach pouch is so small (egg-size, compared to melon-size before the operation), the patient feels full very quickly and therefore calorie-intake is drastically reduced. However, because the muscular stomach wall has a tendency to stretch, the stoma can widen thus permitting greater food and calorie intake. To reduce this possibility, weight loss surgeons place a silastic ring as a sort of "collar" around the stoma, to prevent stretching and enlarging of the passage into the lower (distal) stomach. Silastic Ring in Gastric BypassThe successful utilization of silastic gastric rings to control the stoma size in vertical banded gastroplasty, has led bariatric surgeons to use both silastic rings and Marlex bands in gastric bypass procedures, (eg. Fobi Pouch) to maintain the stoma size and reduce stretching. Ring circumference is typically larger than that provided for in primary bariatric procedures, so that their regulatory effect is only triggered after some degree of stretching of the pouch has occurred. A Silastic Ring Gastric Bypass with a 6.0 cm ring achieves equivalent weight loss to one with a 5.5 cm ring, but with better quality of eating, and less prospect of requiring ring removal. However, there remains a small proportion of patients in whom a 6.0 cm ring is poorly tolerated. For this reason a 6.5 cm ring should be tested. See also: ------------------------------------------------ Gastric Bypass Bariatric Information |