I am scheduled to have the surgery on the 15th of February with Dr. Ortiz and I am just wondering if anyone has any regrets after having this surgery. It seems there are some people on here who aren't losing the weight with it and that concerns me some. I am curious how much weight loss people are experiencing 6-12 months out.

I am scheduled to have the surgery on the 15th of February with Dr. Ortiz and I am just wondering if anyone has any regrets after having this surgery. It seems there are some people on here who aren't losing the weight with it and that concerns me some. I am curious how much weight loss people are experiencing 6-12 months out.

Olivia,

I just wanted to let you know that if you go onto Dr. Ortiz's website he has some links to the Brazilian studies that were done with the plication. I believe there are also some Greek and Iranian studies done. In addition the plication is being performed now in the U.S. under clinical trials by Dr. Ponce in Georgia.

Personal stories are important too and I hope some people will share their own experiences.

Here is some information from one of the studies:

Results: TGVP was performed in 100 cases (mean age, 32; standard error of the mean = 2.1); mostly female (F/M = 76/24) and with average body mass index of 47 (36–58). The mean weight loss in our patients was 21.4% of excessive weight loss (EWL) 1 month after the operation, 54% after 6 months (72 cases), 61% after 12 months (56 cases), 60% after 24 months (50 cases), and 57% after 36 months (11 cases). The average time of follow-up was 18 months. The mean time of operation was 98 (70–152) minutes and all of the patients were discharged from the hospital after an average of 1.3 days (range, 1–4). The volume of the stomach in this condition was 100 cc, but just one half of it was effective.

Conclusions: The percentage of excessive weight loss (EWL) in this technique is comparable to other restrictive methods, but EWL appears more rapidly. Early postoperative complications of this method are minimal, without any important late complications. This technique needs more expertise and is more time consuming. A long-term follow-up is advised.

Am I reading these stats correctly? Does this mean that at 36 months people were gaining weight since the percentage is going down? I have to admit these numbers aren't as great as I would like them to be

Olivia,

I just wanted to let you know that if you go onto Dr. Ortiz's website he has some links to the Brazilian studies that were done with the plication. I believe there are also some Greek and Iranian studies done. In addition the plication is being performed now in the U.S. under clinical trials by Dr. Ponce in Georgia.

Personal stories are important too and I hope some people will share their own experiences.

Here is some information from one of the studies:

Results: TGVP was performed in 100 cases (mean age, 32; standard error of the mean = 2.1); mostly female (F/M = 76/24) and with average body mass index of 47 (36–58). The mean weight loss in our patients was 21.4% of excessive weight loss (EWL) 1 month after the operation, 54% after 6 months (72 cases), 61% after 12 months (56 cases), 60% after 24 months (50 cases), and 57% after 36 months (11 cases). The average time of follow-up was 18 months. The mean time of operation was 98 (70–152) minutes and all of the patients were discharged from the hospital after an average of 1.3 days (range, 1–4). The volume of the stomach in this condition was 100 cc, but just one half of it was effective.

Conclusions: The percentage of excessive weight loss (EWL) in this technique is comparable to other restrictive methods, but EWL appears more rapidly. Early postoperative complications of this method are minimal, without any important late complications. This technique needs more expertise and is more time consuming. A long-term follow-up is advised.

Olivia,

I think these numbers are pretty standard for WLS.

As we know WLS is a tool and a lot depends on how you choose to use your tool.

Some stats for plication:

Mean percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL)

was calculated to be 20%EWL at 1 month, 32%EWL at 3 months, 48%EWL at 6 months,

60%EWL at 12 months and 62%EWL at 18 months.

http://www.gastricwrap.com/images/pdf/Plication-PDF.pdf

Here are some stats for lapband:

During the last 4 years, the %EWL is in the region of 53-57 %EWL.

http://www.core.monash.org/assets/documents/lapband-results-700-patients.pdf

Some stats for VSG:

Mean EWL was 62% (45% to 77%) in after 18 months.

http://www.gastricwrap.com/images/pdf/Plication-PDF.pdf

Some stats for the RNY:

Mean percent of excess weight loss (%EWL) was 20%, 48%, 64% and 67% at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months respectively. 89% of patients had at least a 50% EWL at 1 year postoperatively.

http://www.ischemic.net/showabstract.php?pmid=15479593

I am scheduled to have the surgery on the 15th of February with Dr. Ortiz and I am just wondering if anyone has any regrets after having this surgery. It seems there are some people on here who aren't losing the weight with it and that concerns me some. I am curious how much weight loss people are experiencing 6-12 months out.

Hi Olivia. I have no regrets. See my post from today to KarenKaren under the topic Hungry Too Soon. I think we've all been where you are and most of us are very happy with our decision. Joanie

I have only had mine for 6 months but I am very happy with mine. I have gone from a size 20 to a size 4. But I only had 80lbs to lose. From what I'm told if you have 100 or more to lose you should go with the VSG. The main thing you have to remember every WLS is only as good as you take care of it. There are ways to eat more than 3 oz if you really want to with the super sleeve and vsg. I wish I hadn't read how ppl do it so I'm not going to share but I'm still losing weight even though I'm not doing a strict diet anymore. I lost my weight faster than most since I gav up bread and pasta for five months. I knew I needed protien so used my space to eat meat instead of carbs.