About 90% of patients who undergo surgery achieve long-term resolution of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Santo Domingo: Metabolic surgery is the most effective and long-lasting treatment for obesity and diabetes. This procedure helps the patient to lose weight and control comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, among others.

Compared to pharmacological treatments, bariatric surgery is more effective, being the most usual therapy for patients suffering from obesity, the main risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, which is why it is referred to as definitive treatment for diabetes.

The bariatric, laparoscopic and robotic surgeon, Dr. Héctor Sánchez Navarro, director of the Meta Íntegra Bariatric and Metabolic Institute of the Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago (HOMS), explains that metabolic surgery is the most complete therapeutic alternative, with more and better lasting results in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients with obesity.

Procedure

Dr. Sanchez Navarro describes that during the surgery a small stomach of about 45 to 65 milliliters is made and connected to the distal intestine. “This causes that, with less intake capacity, the intake does not contact the entire intestine, absorbing fewer poor quality calories, and thus improving insulin sensitivity with benefits that help the regeneration of the cells that produce insulin.”

Benefits

The director of the only bariatric and metabolic institute in the country with international accreditation by the Surgical Review Corporation as a Center of Excellence, says that patients have been shown to obtain multiple benefits after successful bariatric and metabolic surgery.

These include lowering blood glucose and blood pressure, reducing the workload of the heart and cholesterol levels, improving sleep apnea. In addition, it strengthens the immune system, reduces the risks of heart disease, cancer and kidney disease, and improves the overall quality of life.

“Weight reduction after bariatric surgery has a direct impact on the patient’s physical condition and social interaction. Likewise, depression and anxiety are significantly reduced”.

Efficiency

About 90% of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are overweight or obese. Bariatric surgery induces long-term resolution in more than half of people with obesity and diabetes who undergo surgery.

In cases where the disease is not completely cured, the pharmacological needs for oral antidiabetics or insulin decrease.

The expert in robotic surgery, who is the only Dominican bariatric surgeon accredited as a Physician of Excellence by the Surgical Review Corporation, emphasizes that the HOMS Robotic Surgery Center continues to introduce new procedures for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, performing the interventions with the most modern equipment in the country, the Da Vinci Xi robot.