AMAZING! Nigeria’s Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital makes history, performs West Africa’s first obesity surgery

The patient lost 35kg after obesity surgery

Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital has made history as the first Nigerian tertiary hospital to successfully conduct an obesity operation on a 60-year-old patient.

The patient previously weighed 156kg. This laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (obesity operation) is usually done by Nigerians in India or Europe

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According to the Director Information, AKTH, Hauwa Muhammed in a statement quoted a Consultant Surgeon in the Department of Surgery, Dr. Usman Bello, as saying that the patient presented multiple health issues, which included hypertension, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease.

“Upon evaluation, a team of doctors from four specialties resolved that the patient needed to undergo laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy to have a relief on his medical condition.

“The patient lost 35kg of his weight at the end of the surgery and 65kg at the point of discharge from the hospital.”

It further added that the patient’s weight would return to normal gradually without using sliming tablets.

He called on people, especially the obese, to come over for the surgery in order to live healthily.

A bit about obesity surgery

Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy, simply known as obesity surgery is weight loss option for severely obese persons. It is also called bariatric surgery.

According to John Hopkins Medicine, a healthcare provider may recommend it if a person has a body mass index (BMI) higher than 40. A BMI of greater than 40 typically means that you are about 100 pounds overweight.

The LSG procedure

The surgery takes out the part of the obese patient’s stomach that curves outward, called the fundus. After the fundus is taken out, the surgeon will close the rest of the stomach into a tube shape that looks like a banana or the sleeve of a shirt, hence the name “sleeve gastrectomy.” Because the patient will now have a much smaller stomach, he/she will fill up quickly at mealtimes and eat less.

The fundus contains most of the area of the stomach that secretes a hormone called ghrelin. Because ghrelin may be partly responsible for inducing hunger, taking out this part of the stomach may also help to lose weight afterward by decreasing hunger.

In the first 2 years after LSG, most people will lose between 40% and 50% of their body weight. If your BMI before surgery is 60 or more, you may lose about 125 pounds.

Studies also show that if you have obesity-related problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, or high cholesterol, you have about a 75% chance that these conditions will also improve.

LSG in Africa

Up until now, South Africa is the only in Africa with hospitals that perform obesity surgeries. Most patients on the continent go to India or Europe where a cost of LSG ranges between $7,000 to $15,000.