A new tool for losing weight for morbid obesity! The fourth generation of Da Vinci robotic arms has many advantages in reducing weight

Speaking of obesity, according to the standards of the National Health Service, a BMI (Body mass index) of more than 27Kg/m2 is considered obesity, and if the BMI exceeds 35 Kg/m2 or even 40 Kg/m2, we call it severe obesity (or morbid obesity). There are many causes of morbid obesity, the main one being overeating. But in addition to this, other factors such as genetic genes, work style, lack of exercise, and even the influence of psychogenic diseases are also one of the causes of morbid obesity.

According to a British research statistic, if the BMI is greater than 40 Kg/m2, only about one thousand people can successfully lose weight to normal weight within 10 years!

I believe everyone wants to maintain a healthy and good figure. But in fact, you and I have probably all seen severely obese people at one time or another, and maybe you are one of them! The author believes that the vast majority of obese patients have tried hard to lose weight. However, before the BMI exceeds 30 Kg/m2, losing weight may not be so difficult. However, when the BMI exceeds 35 Kg/m2, or even above 40 Kg/m2, losing weight becomes increasingly difficult.

According to a British research statistic, if the BMI is greater than 40 Kg/m2, only about one thousand people can successfully lose weight to normal weight within 10 years! Because when your weight is getting heavier, it will become increasingly difficult to exercise and control your diet, and it will eventually turn into a vicious cycle, and it will become increasingly difficult to return to a normal weight.

Bariatric surgery, also known as metabolic surgery, has a history of more than 40 years in the medical field. Despite the constant disputes in the early years, in recent years, evidence-based medicine has confirmed that weight loss or metabolic surgery can not only achieve the goal of weight loss, but can also significantly improve blood sugar control in diabetic patients. In addition, it also has a certain effect on blood pressure control in hypertensive patients. Some patients can even maintain blood sugar and blood pressure within normal range without taking any medication.

There are two types of bariatric metabolic surgery: sleeve gastrectomy and gastrointestinal bypass surgery.

Currently, bariatric metabolic surgery in Taiwan can be roughly divided into two categories:

First/Sleeve gastrectomy.

Some people in the general public simply call it gastric reduction surgery. In simple terms, it is to remove part of the stomach, leaving only about 100 to 150cc of capacity. This can significantly reduce the number of calories the patient consumes daily. In addition, the removal of part of the stomach also leads to changes in the endocrine system (because the cells that secrete hunger hormone are located at the fundus of the greater curvature of the stomach). This can prevent the patient from feeling hungry and being in a state of always wanting to eat but not feeling full.

Second/gastrointestinal bypass surgery.

In addition to shrinking the stomach, this surgery also partially bypasses the original small intestine, so that the original 6-meter-long small intestine that can absorb nutrients is now reduced to only 4 meters. This can achieve a mild degree of malabsorption and thus achieve the purpose of weight loss. Currently, the National Health Insurance Administration has approved health insurance coverage for these two surgeries starting in June 2021, indicating that this type of surgery has become the recognized standard for surgical weight loss. The current standard for weight loss surgery under the National Health Insurance is BMI.32.5 Kg/m2 with other systemic diseases or BMI.37.5 Kg/m2.

When the body weight exceeds BMI 40 Kg/m2 or even 50 Kg/m2, and there are complications such as diabetes, hypertension or sleep apnea, weight loss and metabolic surgery may actually be a more effective way to treat metabolic diseases.

New technology for weight loss surgery for morbid obesity: The fourth-generation Da Vinci robotic arm has many advantages

After Keelung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital introduced the fourth-generation Da Vinci robotic arm surgery system in September 2016, it provided a new robotic arm weight loss surgery option for this type of morbidly obese patients in addition to basic laparoscopic weight loss surgery. The da Vinci robotic arm, with its 3D stereoscopic vision, better arm freedom and relatively stable arm operation, provides a clearer surgical field of view for weight loss surgery and can achieve excellent operation and hemostasis effects. In addition, the amount of gastric tissue removed is much more accurate than traditional endoscopy. In addition, the advantage of the da Vinci robot is that it can complete the surgery using a single incision, which can meet the patient's aesthetic needs.

The approach of single incision laparoscopic surgery is to concentrate all incisions on the navel, use special devices and improved surgical techniques to complete various abdominal surgeries, hide the scars in the navel, and it can be said that there are almost no scars after the operation. In the past, if a single incision was used to perform weight loss surgery, the traditional laparoscope had limited degrees of freedom and was much more difficult to operate. Therefore, the advantages of the Da Vinci robot in this regard are beyond words. In addition, the use of single-incision robotic surgery allows patients to recover faster after surgery. Most patients can get out of bed and move around the next day, and the wound is almost invisible during outpatient follow-up.

However, most people may still have some doubts about weight loss surgery, and find it incredible to cut off part of a normal stomach. Here we must emphasize a person's health management. When the weight just enters the overweight range, we must actively control our diet and exercise moderately to achieve the goal of weight control.

When your weight has entered the obesity range (BMI>27 Kg/m2), you need the intervention of family, friends, and even professionals to achieve a healthier and more effective weight loss goal. If you easily believe in folk remedies, drugs, or incorrect diet methods at this time, you may not lose weight but hurt your body, not to mention spending a lot of money. If the body weight exceeds BMI 40 Kg/m2 or even 50 Kg/m2, and there are complications such as diabetes, hypertension or sleep apnea, weight loss and metabolic surgery may actually be a more effective way to treat metabolic diseases.

What we want to appeal to is: when you are already a morbidly obese patient, you can seek consultation and advice from professionals, whether it is a nutritionist, pharmacist, metabolic physician or bariatric surgeon. As long as the patient's weight and related complications can be gradually controlled, it is actually feasible to evaluate in multiple ways at the same time.