I am new at the possible thought of band to sleeve revision and have my first appt next week.

I am assuming your "bougie" is the size of your stomach after the surgery is performed?? I guess, much like the "pouch" with the band??

What are the different sizes of "bougies" and what is the qualifications to determine such???

Thanks!!

Deb

The bougie is the tube that the insert in your stomach during surgery to use as a guide when removing the stomach tissue. It comes in different sizes but there are very small differences between them (millimeters difference). I have a 36, which I'm told is the most common. You don't want one too small or you may have problems with strictures afterwards.

Bougie is simply a measuring tool used by most surgeons as a guide when they staple off your stomach. It is NOT the end result size of your stomach once the swelling subsides. It is inserted down your esophagus, and removed before you are in recovery.

Here is a chart of bougie sizes, the most common are 32-40french. If you zoom in on this page, you can see the difference between a 32 and 40 is a mere 2.3mm. Not much difference at all. Surgical technique, each patient's own anatomy, and surgeon experience will ultimately determine the end result of the sleeve capacity.

http://www.medovations.com/pdf/Esophageal_Dilatation.pdf

I have a 32fr. My surgeon uses the same size on all patients unless there is a pre-existing condition to warrant any larger. Nothing smaller than a 32 is used by our program. It's all about that particular surgeon's experience with his patients, and success/fail stories.

I personally would not allow anything larger than a 40fr. If my surgeon wanted to use larger, or refused to budge, he would not be my surgeon for long.

The larger bougie sizes that were used in the past have shown a higher incidence of weight regain at 2-5 years out.