Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/428513
"Bariatric weight- loss surgery is very beneficial to the community. Most patients are off their hypertensive medications in a year's time. Even among people with diabetes, their condition is so much improved that their insulin is able to be decreased or eliminated." — Chandroutie Latchman, DO, Girard Medical Center " We a re extremely plea sed that Dr. Latchman chose Girard Medical Center as the place she wanted to begin her practice as a general surgeon," CEO Michael Payne says. "Her decision to start a bariatric sleeve program at GMC is a testament to the confidence she has in our staff and the facility. We have always felt our staff provides the highest level of care possible, and we are delighted that Dr. Latchman recognized their skills and cultivated an outstanding bariatric team." Addressing Community Needs Because the incidence of obesity con- tinues to rise, as does the incidence of comorbidities, there is a renewed interest in its surgical treatment. While the mes- sage of "Eat healthfully and increase levels of physical activity" remains, the problem persists for a great many individuals. Medical treatment for Type 2 diabetes does not adequately control the condition in a third of patients, leaving them at risk of developing complications such as retinopathy, heart disease, renal failure and amputation. In these circumstances, bariatric surgery is gaining increasing acceptance as a highly effective treatment not only for obesity but also for diabetes, hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea. The sleeve gastrectomy procedure was first developed a little over 10 years ago. It was meant to be an interven- tion for high-risk patients before they underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. However, in a recent single-center study reported online by Ralph Peterli, MD, of Claraspital in Switzerland, in the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, researchers found the procedure alone was effective for weight loss. Recently, the joint guidelines from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the Obesity Society, and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery were upgraded to reflect the value of sleeve gastrectomy. The procedure performs two func- tions that no diet can: It decreases the size of the stomach and changes the endocrine pathways to remove particular hunger hormones. "The sleeve gastrectomy is a restrictive procedure in which stomach size is greatly reduced," Dr. Latchman explains. "It retains bowel continuity and lets food enter the stomach and pass through the small bowel normally. The procedure limits the amount of food a patient can Dr. Latchman visits with Bariatric Coordinator Kelci Newkirk, RN, regarding a procedure. Patients entering the Girard Medical Center bariatric program have a partner and advocate in Bariatric Coordinator Kelci Newkirk, RN. PHOTO © JEROD NORRIS PHOTO © JEROD NORRIS M D N E W S . CO M ■ MD NEWS Greater Kansas | 7