Medeor 24x7 Hospital, a unit of VPS Healthcare performed the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy on Mr. Shadi Radwan, a Palestinian national who was diagnosed with super obesity weighing in at a whopping 210 kilograms, and totaling a BMI of 68.5 before surgery. The 33-year-old patient was discharged only two days later after undergoing a record, rapid recovery.

“Being obese was devastating for me,” said Mr. Radwan. “The simplest activities were hard as my feet would hurt and I couldn’t stand for a long time. My condition not only affected me, but everyone around me including my family.”

An accredited, multidisciplinary team of doctors at Medeor 24x7 Hospital led by Dr. Toufic Ata, Consultant General Surgery and Head of the Medeor Bariatric Clinic spearheaded the surgery whose excellent results has made waves in the medical field. Dr. Toufic Ata said, “It truly is an amazing feat that a man who weighed a whole 210 kg was able to respond so well and that he was discharged just 2 days after his surgery. Additionally, it gives me great delight to announce that he healed so well that I was able to remove his sutures only 7 days after he was discharged.”

“The surgery will change my life. Now, I will be able to walk faster without feeling fatigued as easily. More importantly, it will help me become a better father to my child. I can play with him and engage in fun physical activities with him. This makes me extremely happy,” commented Radwan.

The surgery follows recent reports that records UAE as one of the countries with the highest proportion of obese patients with nearly 66% of men and 60% of women suffering from obesity and related diseases. Bariatric surgery has been touted to being associated with long-term survival, improved quality of life, and reversal of obesity-related diseases and abnormalities. Dr. Toufic confirmed the number of bariatric procedures done in Medeor 24x7 Hospital has tripled within the last three years indicating the gravity of the obesity endemic. He said, “It is really unhealthy, almost dangerous to have a BMI of 35 and above as they have a higher risk to suffer from sleep apnea, cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, psycho- social difficulties and depression”.

“Obese patients and people need to be made aware that the restricted lifestyle and diseases related to obesity can be avoided with Bariatric surgery which has become the preferred treatment among locals and expats suffering from obesity in the UAE”.

Dr. Toufic reports that the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, a surgery classified under the Bariatric Surgery category is the favored method to treat obese or morbidly obese patients. Using minimally invasive techniques, the team removed approximately 75- 80% of Radwan’s stomach laparoscopically, while simultaneously stapling the remaining part as a tubular pouch.

 “The sleeve gastrectomy has a wide number of benefits that include a minimal to no recovery time, the patient will not be bound to consume a lifetime of vitamins, less invasive, and has minimum risk. It is now the most common, surgical weight loss procedure in the world, also the safest of its kind.”

Based on Radwan’s pace of recovery, Dr. Toufic has projected a weight loss of 60kg across a span of 6 months.

“For those faced with the additional dilemmas such as diabetes, binge- eating, and for heavy sweet eaters, this operation would not prove to be helpful. Such patients can explore the Gastric Bypass which is the Gold Standard of surgeries, also the most effective and my preferred choice. With obesity becoming a nationwide issue, bariatric surgery is becoming more relevant and is constantly developing making it a beautiful domain of study,” concluded Dr. Toufic.

Dr. Toufic Ata is a graduate of St Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon, following which he completed his Masters in Surgical Sciences and is certified from the European Board of Surgical Oncology. He trained in Bariatric Surgery in Paris at Poissy Hospital and performed his first surgery in 2005. He joined Medeor 24x7 Hospital in 2015 as a Consultant for General Surgery and the Head of the Medeor Bariatric Clinic.