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Category: Duodenal Switch

SIPS-SADI and ASMBS

December 31, 2023 1:21 pm

I was asked if my opinion of SIPS-SADI has changed since ASMBS endorsed it. Let me remind everyone that ASMBS also endorses Adjustable Gastric Banding. We know what happened to the story. Is anyone considering Lap Band, even though ASMBS endorses it? I am a member of ASMBS. The endorsement of the ASMBS does not unequivocally validate the outcome of a procedure; it only states that is an available alternative. As stated previously, patients should be clear that SIPS-SADI procedures are not Duodenal Switch operations. Any suggestion is misleading. The physiology of SIPS-SADI is very different than that of the duodenal switch operation. Complications are associated with them, as reflected by the revisions we do to convert them to a Duodenal switch with percentage-based measurement of the small bowel. In our practice, we have had to revise SIPS-SADI to duodenal switch operation due to compilation such as bile reflux gastritis and inadequate weight loss.

COVID Vaccines

March 05, 2021 3:50 pm

There are no known contraindications from a weight-loss surgical perspective to prevent a post-surgical patient from getting the COVID vaccines.

A patient who has had a Duodenal Switch, Lap Sleeve Gastrectomy, RNY Gastric Bypass, or revisions to Weight Loss Surgery should have the COVID vaccine. The vaccination should be avoided for a few weeks after surgery. For other possible contraindications, please consult your PCP.

Here is a summary of the vaccines and the details of each one approved as of the publication date.

 

 

 

Zoom Group Meeting

September 21, 2020 7:10 am

We are excited to announce we will be having a Zoom group meeting Tuesday, September 22, 2020 at 7:00 PM PST.  We hope to see you online!

Registration is required. Please follow the link to the meeting registration.

Topic: Group meeting question and answer
Time: Sep 22, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
These meetings are for general topics and/or basic question and answers.  If you need a more in-depth meeting we would suggest a video or in-person consultation with Dr. Keshishian.  You can request a consultation via this link.  Contact Us

Vitamin D and Covid -19

May 07, 2020 9:24 am

We are all aware of the many roles that Vitamin D plays in our bodies. This includes immune function in addition to all the regulatory roles that Vitamin D plays in several physiologic reactions. There may be a correlation of low Vitamin D and COVID-19 infection increasing death risk as looked at in research articles.

Covid -19 in a subset of patience causes significant lung injury. These patients require mechanical ventilation.

Previously reported publications have suggested a possible correlation between ace inhibitors and increased risk of pulmonary complications of Covid -19. Some researchers suspect that the Covid-19 may be able to enter lung cells by the ACE receptors.

Shown is the initial entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) into cells, primarily type II pneumocytes, after binding to its functional receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). After endocytosis of the viral complex, surface ACE2 is further down-regulated, resulting in unopposed angiotensin II accumulation. Local activation of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system may mediate lung injury responses to viral insults. ACE denotes angiotensin-converting enzyme, and ARB angiotensin-receptor blocker. (N Engl J Med 2020; 382:1653-1659)

Vitamin D may positively implact the receptor ACE2. This study, report clear correlation between the high death rate with low vitamin D levels in Covid infected patients. There are limitation to this study that the attached abstract outlines.

Our take home message would be to please make sure you have updated labs and that you are all taking the recommended Vitamin D based on your surgical anatomy and laboratory values, not just an average non-bariatric person recommended dose.

https://www.dssurgery.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/manuscript.pdf

Diabetes and Weight Loss Surgery

April 06, 2020 5:51 am

The scientific literature is riddled with evidence pointing to the benefit of early metabolic surgery as a superior treatment, remission and possible cure option for diabetes.  Unfortunately, the medical education, pharmaceutical companies, primary care healthcare delivery systems and third party payers (health insurance companies) have not caught up with the published data. The American Diabetes Association has changed their guidelines to reflected the benefit for combating diabetes with weight loss surgery.

There is ample evidence of the superior outcome of surgery as a treatment option for diabetes when compared to medical managment. Cummings et.al, in a published article in Diabetes Care, showed sustained stabilization of the Hemoglobin A1C six years after surgery. In contrast, there was no significant changes noted in the non-surgical group.

 

 

Jans et.al. , in November of 2019 showed that the patients who had NOT been on Insulin,  and had metabolic surgery had the highest long term success for resolution and remission of the diabetes. This identifies that having a patient be proactive in their care by having metabolic surgery improves success rates.

 

The exact mechanism by which the diabetes is resolved is unclear. The weight loss may play a role. There are numerous hormones and neuroendocrine modulators which control the complex metabolic pathways. Batterham et.al., in Diabetes Care (2016),  published a summary overview of the possible mechanism involved in diabetes improvement following metabolic surgery.

 

Neuroendocrine pathways involved with regulation of blood sugars.

 

There are a number of overlapping and sequential layers for possible reasons why diabetes resolves after weight loss/metabolic surgery. These may be directly related to surgery and the reduction of the calorie intake or absorption. It may also involve the neuroendocrine modulators.

 

What can be said definitively is that early surgical intervention is best and most likely the only permanent solution to type II diabetic resolution. There is no medical justification in not considering metabolic surgery in diabetic patients who may also have difficulty with meaning a BMI< 35.

Medication Absorption After Weight Loss Surgery

March 30, 2020 8:01 am

Weight loss surgical procedures, in one form or another, achieve the desired effect of weight loss by altering absorption of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. This results in decreased total absorption of required calories.

An unintended consequence is the altered absorption of medications. Frequently I am asked about the specific medication. Usually the answer is vague since the information is limited on specific medications. If the desired effect is not achieved, then it is probably  not being absorbed well. Specially, if the same dose of the same medication working well before surgery.

There is a summary article about the Theoretical absorption pattern of different weight loss surgical procedures.

Vitamin D Metabolism and Deficiency file

March 28, 2020 8:17 am

It’s important to understand Vitamin D metabolism and deficiency potential following weight loss surgery Vitamins after DS need to be followed via laboratory blood studies. There are basic vitamin needs but individual needs should be based on medical history, genetics, alimentary limb length, common channel length and other surgical and physiologic determinations. Vitamins after DS are a life long commitment as well as protein needs and hydration. Duodenal Switch is a malabsorptive procedure which requires at least yearly laboratory blood studies, daily vitamins/minerals, daily high protein and daily hydration intake. There is not an all in one vitamin that is adequate for a DS patient or tailored to your individual needs. (example: you may need more Vitamin D and less Vitamin A if you are taking a all-in-one vitamin you can’t get more of one and less of another vitamin)

DS patients are recommended to take Dry forms (water miscible form) of Vitamin A, D3, E, K due to the fat malabsorption after DS. Dry formulations by Biotech are processed so they can be absorbed by a water soluble method after the DS procedure. Vitamin D seems to be the vitamin that can become deficient the easiest, followed by Vitamin A. Take these vitamins away from dietary fat.

In some cases, patients may need injectable Vitamin A or D to improve vitamin levels.

Click the links to view the information below and within the comments of this file:
Vitamin D3 50 by Biotech:  Amazon
directly from BioTech:

Many DS surgeon’s do not recommend Children’s vitamins or chewable vitamins unless there is a specific reason or need for them.
DS Surgeon Blog on Vitamin D:
Webinar on Vitamin D metabolism:
Medications that effect Bone health:
This does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or prescribing. It is simply a compiled list of gathered information. If you are in doubt or have questions please contact your medical healthcare professional.

Articles

March 22, 2020 6:57 pm

We have added a new section of compiled articles to our website. This page will allow us to compile sicentific articles all in one place for easy reference. The page allows the reader to search for articles based on the subject matter. We will continue to add to this list of article as new ones become available.

Length of Bowel : Hess or No Hess

March 22, 2020 5:58 pm

“…What is the length of my common channel” is probably one of the frequently asked questions about the duodenal switch operation in the office. This usually comes up at the initial consult when patients repost credible sources such as Dr. Google and Dr. Facebook for patient with different bowel length have done well or not so after duodenal switch operation. Dr. Hess described the Duodenal Switch by using total bowel length measurements and creating the common channel as a percentage of the total small bowel length.  However, it seems that this is being done less and less.

This leads to my explanation that is on the website

Hess calculator : Bowel Length Calculator

How the actual measurements matters: Bowel length video link

In 2019, Bekheit et.al published a very interesting study comparing total small bowel length (TSBL) to a number of variables such as height, weight, sex and BMI. They identified a few loose correlations. Male patient have longer TBSL than females. There was correlation between TSBL and height stronger in males than females but not statistically significant.

In Conclusion they reported ” Despite statistical significance of the correlation between the TSBL and the height and weight of the included participants, the correlation seems to have no clinical meaning since the effect size is negligible. ”

As I have previously discussed this  Making the common and alimentary length standard for every duodenal switch patient will make some loose too much and other not enough weight.

Figure 1 shows TSBL on the horizontal axis, and height, weight, BMI and Age on the vertical axis. For the most part what they all show is that one can not predict how long a patients bowel is by any of the measures that we take in the office as a part of the routine exam.

This raises, the concerns  that I had raised previously. How could two similar patients who have the same weight, age, sex and BMI have the same surgery and expect the same result if one of them has TSBL of 400 cm and the other one 800cm?


If both of the patients get the same “cookie cutter” duodenal switch with the same lengths, then the patient with TSBL of 400 will have much longer common channel if the surgeon does not customize the length of the bowel. This is an example of many patients whom we have revised over the years where they had a duodenal switch done with the “standard” 125cm common channel and when we measured the total length the patient had 500 cm TSBL.

Additional Links here.