DS surgery called surgery of choice for SMO

Hey everyone, This aritcle was posted on another forum and I thought it was very interesting, and posting it not to start a controversy, but for information for people researching WLS. Scott Duodenal Switch Called Surgery of Choice for SMO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.medpagetoday.com/Surgery/...urgery/tb/4162 Review CHICAGO, Sept. 22 -- For "super-obese" patients, biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch appears to achieve better weight loss than Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, found researchers here. Super-obese patients have a body mass index (BMI) of at least 50 kg/m2, reported Vivek N. Prachand, M.D., of the University of Chicago, in the October issue of the Annals of Surgery. The percentage of excess body weight loss was consistently better for duodenal switch than the more commonly performed Roux-en-Y bypass over three years of follow-up, said Dr. Prachand. In addition, there was better total weight loss and decrease in BMI. The 198 patients with super obesity who underwent duodenal switch lost significantly more excess body weight at one year (64.1% versus 55.9%), 18 months (71. 9% versus 62.8%), two years (71.6% versus 60.1%), and three years (68.9% versus 54.9%, all P

I would have preferred to have the DS, but my insurer only covers RNY, and I had to appeal just to get them to do that. Trying to get the DS would have been an uphill battle. My health couldn't wait any longer, so I figured the RNY was better than nothing at all. I know some DS folks who say they wouldn't have had WLS if they had to have the RNY, but I had to decide to salvage my health before it tanked 100%. So, RNY it was. Kix

Hey Kix, The article got cut off when posting, but there is more to it (you can follow the link if you want to read the rest). Somewhere in the article i believe it talks about the surgery types being a personal choice. Hey if it was between the RNY and nothing, I'm sure i would have choosen the RNY. Anything was better then being 500 lbs. Scott

Scott, that's sort of where I was at. I wanted the DS but really couldn't afford private pay. When I was fighting my insurer to get them to approve WLS, I knew if they approved me, I'd have to have the RNY. I figured I'd lose my appeal because my attorney was an idiot. I was trying to figure out how to get enough money together to go to Brazil for the DS, and I figured it would take another year to pull enough money together for that. Imagine my surprise when I won my appeal in spite of my inept attorney! At 530 lbs, I figured a fully covered RNY now was better than waiting at least a year to afford the DS and possibily developing more health problems than I already had. It was the best choice for me, even though I still wish I could have had the DS. In some ways, I feel like the choice was made for me rather than making the choice on my own, but at least it's done, and I'm on my way to being less of a person (size-wise, that is!). Thanks for sharing the article. I think more people need to learn that the DS is a viable alternative to RNY. Kix 530/407/373/?

hey theres always a RNY to DS revision right? Does that take the dumping away?

Hey Miss, Yes if you have a revision, the dumping will end, because the Dr. will restore your pyloric valve. Scott