This is by far the the biggest worry among those who fork over the thousands of dollars it costs for this procedure. Last night I suddenly felt like someone kicked me from the inside of my stomach. My immediate thought was “Oh no! I popped a stitch”, but I haven’t been able to verify with anyone that you can actually feel this happen (please see updates below).
How often to the stitches come undone? Unfortunately, there isn’t a clear answer, but it does happen. I think it’s safe to say (based on this study) that most of the time, this doesn’t happen within 5 years. This is one of the advantages that the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has over the ESG. With an LSG you can’t suddenly lose restriction due to stitches coming out (since they take out a portion of the stomach rather than stitch it to make it smaller). However, LSG is more invasive, which is why many (including me) seek out the ESG.
So what happens if they do come undone? Some Doctors offer additional “insurance” to purchase in the event stitches come out and you need a revision, but most do not. In many cases, if this happens, you’re out the cost to redo the stitches, or you’re just back to square one (and also out the money you paid for the procedure the first time around). It sucks, it happens, and it’s a legitimate concern. The best thing you can do to help prevent this is to follow the post procedure diet perfectly. But even then, stitches can still come out. It just comes down to whether or not you want to play the odds, or go with a different procedure.
Update: I did get some feedback from some people who have confirmed stitches coming out. They did not feel any “popping”. However, my 2 month endoscopy showed none of my stitches are fully intact, and the top ones have failed completely. So I’m not sure if the popping early on was from stitches coming out or not. Either way, this does explain why I never feel full or have restriction.
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