Specialist warns: Stomach botox does not belong in the international guide
In two private hospitals in Istanbul and Izmir, two of the patients who lost their lives after gastric botox surgery in recent months have died. An investigation was launched after some patients showed symptoms such as double vision, high blood pressure and nausea. During the research it emerged how healthy gastric botox is. Explaining that obesity is an increasingly serious problem, it can also cause important health problems, DEU Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery Lecturer Assoc. Dr. Serhan Derici drew attention to recent deaths from gastric botox and issued a warning.
‘NO TRANSACTION WITH CLEAR CRITERIA’
Claiming that gastric botox is not a surgical procedure, but is performed by descending a thin tube from the mouth into the stomach. Derici stated that it was an endoscopic procedure that resulted in the injection of botox into the inner surface of the stomach. Derici noted that gastric botox is performed in a short period of time and is often preferred because it does not require general anesthesia. “These situations can be seen as an advantage. Unfortunately, we know that gastric Botox is performed even in field conditions. However, it is not included in any guide from national or international weight loss organizations. It is not a procedure that has accepted and clearly defined criteria There is no guide on how many doses and how many injections to make in which part of the stomach The lack of a certain standardization is one of the main problems It is important which brand of the toxin to be used in the application be used. This drug It is also illegally brought from abroad. Because it is not only a product used in this field. Botox is widely used in the medical field. A reaction to the drug can occur. In the literature, gastric perforation is , decay and bleeding have been recorded as complications of gastric injections We do not know for what reason those who lost their lives died. . This will become clear as a result of the autopsy work of the expert committee,” he said.
‘MOST USED METHOD TUBE STOMACH APPLICATION’
Stating that the patients who enrolled with them for obesity cessation were evaluated before surgery, Assoc. Dr Serhan Derici continued:
“It must be proven that the condition of obesity does not occur for any other reason. Obesity surgery can be performed in patients with a body mass index above 40, what we call morbid obesity. In international guidelines, if there is a comorbid disease, surgery is also recommended for patients with a body mass index greater than 30. We have decided that the patient should have surgery. We start the bariatric surgery procedure after we think it will not hurt and that it will be beneficial the most commonly used method in the world is the sleeve gastrectomy this is the application where most of the stomach is removed leaving the stomach as a tube we perform surgery to make the person eat less and to prevent the food from being digested in the body.”
‘OPTIONS MUST BE CONSIDERED’
Derici stated that the risk of failure is lower with bariatric surgery compared to gastric botox. Derici, who warned about reliable ways for those who have health problems because of their excess weight, said:
“Surgical procedures are procedures that are performed under general anesthesia in the operating room and require several days of hospitalization. In very special cases these may not be successful. There are those who see that many people treated with Botox lose weight. there are many scientific studies that show that unfortunately it does not work. These are published in quality magazines. It’s been published. After applying Botox, patients are recommended a low-calorie, liquid diet. It is recommended to continue this for 3-6 months. We are already offering this diet to an obese person. It is unlikely that this patient will lose weight. On the other hand, Botox slows stomach emptying, sometimes reducing the feeling of hunger. This product, which is technically useful, should be developed. If it is revealed that these patients are severely debilitated and side effects reduced, this work may become more applicable not only in Turkey but all over the world. But we have no such evidence at this stage. I warn Burgers, first of all, we should not be fat, it is necessary to move more, exercise and eat well and decently. Those who have gone through this process and arrived through mistakes must undergo evaluation in major centers. I recommend that they evaluate multiple options related to obesity following the evaluation made at university, government, teaching and research hospitals.”