Question:
does anyone know the length of time LAP vs OPEN

does anyone know the length of time it takes ( if all goes well and no complications) for open vs lap for the surgery and the length of hospital stay. I have been thinking a lot about the open procedure because I feel the surgeon can really have a "hands on" type of thing going on. a friend of mine had lap and had a bad leak, I know this is a risk for both surgeries, but it just seems like it would be better if the surgeon can lift things up in there and look to see if all is attached and stapled right. any experience or advise is appreciated    — taterbug898 (posted on August 5, 2004)


August 4, 2004
It all depends on your surgeons skills! My surgeons group LAP time about 1.5 hours even on super morbids with BMIs over 60. This rivals open time of many surgeons. Typical hospital stay 2.3 days. That number from my surgeon last night at our support group meeting. LAP costs more but insurance pays for it because it saves money on length of hospital stays, reduces complications, like follow up incisional hernias, about 1/3 of opens get them and they require a follow up hernia repair surgery:( LAP also reduces the chance of infection since the inside of your body cavity isnt open to room air. LAP is done with sterile nitrogen. Certinally either surgery works but this gives you a better idea of the big picture. <P> I will add your generally better off using a high volume surgeon who does lots of RNYs or whatever your getting. With nearly all surgeries high volume equals fewer complications because they are more experienced, and being better at handling whatever troubles do come up. WLS was the best decision I EVER made and I wish you only the best! 313 195 july 23 2001 I am 3 years out, time does fly!
   — bob-haller

August 4, 2004
You will get many different anwsers on this I am sure but I feal the same as you I had open and I am very glad I did my cousins friend had open also and it was a good thing cause the dr in their and able to see more found a spot on something in her if it had not been found and removed it would have turned to cancer also a frend of mine that had lap they punchured his intestans but I do know lots of ppl who had lap and did fine if your dr does both then I would do what ever you feel most at easy with and your INCwill pay for I had open 4-16-03 and have lost 126pds went from 260 to 136 and now i a size 3 jeans I will be having my TT hernia repair tomorrow did delovpe 2 hernias but have not had no pan with them untill my 13yr old daughter had operation on her legs and was in cast with both legs and I was having to lift heralot she was 80pds with out cast LOL the good thing about it I have now built up good muscles in my arms last time seen my dr he aske me if I had been working out I told him yes lifting my 80pds daughter I have been lifting sall weights now to keep it up so i do not lose it Take Care Huggs Beth
   — wildbrat

August 4, 2004
I have to disagree with you I would not have it open to save my life if you have a good docotr you will not have any problems and I was home in 2 days and at the gym in a week. You have more risk of infection from open then from lap and alot longer recovery. Also a bigger scare. I went up to the other side of the state to go to a docotr that does lap. Did you know you have a lot longer training for the surgery if you do it lap.
   — Rosemary L.

August 4, 2004
this is a question that all of us face .... lap vs open. After talking to my surgeon and doing a lot of research, I chose Open. What put me over the top was the destinct impression that my surgeon was much more comfortable with Open. Considering the high mortality rate of this surgery, I decided that I agreed with her. <G> When I had my surgery in January, all the recent deaths were associated with the lap so I decided that I wanted my surgeon to physically pick up my organs and look for leaks. Also, depending on how obese you are, they may not be able to do the lap as the devices are only so long. As for the hospital stay, mine was 5 days with no complications. I have a 7 inch scar (normal is 4-5 inches) and am proud of it. :-) Good luck. The most important thing is to talk to our surgeon and find out what he/she recommends and is more comfortable with. You don't want to be a test case. Lida Open 1/14/04 331/254/??
   — coffenut

August 5, 2004
I had my lap done on 8/2/04. I was in surgery about 2 hours. My doctor also removed my gallbladder. I was walking the hospital floors three hours after surgery. I had my leak test on 8/3/04 and all is well. My only pproblem was a headache that lasted three days off and on. No matter what meds I was given, I couldn't seem to kick it. I was discharged from the hospital on 8/4/04 in the PM (my choice, my doctor said I could stay one more day) I did have my pain meds filled but only had to take them once today.
   — Lisa R.

August 5, 2004
My lap was done on Fri am and I went home about 12noon on Sun. Another young lady had an open because of her size on Friday afternoon and went home late on Tuesday. We both did great...judy
   — juju524

August 5, 2004
I am 100% for the Laparoscopic. I had it done 7/20/04 and never had any major pains. I did also have the migraine like Lisa R, but I think that was from withdrawls of caffiene, sugar and carbs all at once. I went back to work 8/4. My brother had open RNY 6/29/04 and is still out of work. You heal much quicker with the lap vs open. In an open surgery you have a chance of more complications like hernias etc. because they have to cut through your muscles etc. I have 5 very small (less than 1 inch)scars that are already healed. I too researched this quite extensivly and even went out of town because I wanted the Laproscopic.
   — Michelle M.

August 6, 2004
Melinda, I unfortunately, was one who had a leak. If you'd like to read my story you can go to my profile on here. My mother and I were discussing this the other day, and you are really smart in considering having it open. I was only 230 lbs. going into the surgery. I'm young and basically healthy other than high blood pressure and obesity. We had NO idea that I would have any complications because I was in such good shape. I can't give you an answer on what you should do, but you are correct in saying that the risk of complications goes down a considerable amount when being opened. After I had my second surgery to correct the leak (it was open), the doctor told me that he knew after opening me up that I would be ok and have no more complications. If I had had it opened in the first place then none of the horrible things I had to go through would have happened. Lap is a safe surgery. It is usually successful. I think you need to way out the risks. No one, no matter age, weight, health, etc, is guaranteed a complication free surgery. Therefore, it is up to you to decide what risk your willing to take. Open surgery is a lot harder to get over. You will stay in the hospital longer than with lap. I think that it is well worth it now that I know I'm not going to have anymore leaks and that everything is fine inside. I hope this helps in your decision and I will be praying for you.
   — Lee R.

August 6, 2004
Lee I am very sorry for what you went thru. Unfortunately opens get leaks too:( The overall leak rate mentioned in barb thompsons book is 1% to 2% Most surgeons do a leak test on the table before closing us up, and then a second test the next day before allowing anything by mouth. Sadly bad things can occur to anyone, and the best defense is selecting a highly experienced surgeon, preferably at a high volume operation based at a teaching hospital. Fewer things tend to go wrong and they are better able to identify and treat what does come up. Incidently the biggest killer is blood clots after surgery... Largely avoidable by lots of walking starting immediately after surgery.
   — bob-haller

August 6, 2004
I had an open revision (VBG to RNY). Surgery only took 1.5 hours even with the adhesions the surgeon had to remove. I was in the hospital 2 days and back to work within 2 weeks. A friend I met in support group had lap RNY and they kept her and extra day - she was running a slight fever. It all just depends on YOUR body. There is no such thing as an identical surgical experience.
   — Ali M

August 7, 2004
I had open RNY 2 years ago...I have only a small 3" scar and I was in the hospital 2 days. My surgeon was not doing laproscopic at the time and even if I had the laproscopic he would have had to open me any way because he ran into a small complication that he was able to handle easily because of the open RNY vs. laproscopic. Christine 07/12/2002 316# 161#
   — Christine C.




Click Here to Return
×