Patients are queuing up in Bahrain to have drastic stomach surgery to help them slim down to woo marriage partners, get better jobs or just to look good, said a top doctor.

Five pioneering sleeve gastrectomy procedures, which involve removing 85 per cent of the stomach, have been carried out at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) on 'highly obese' patients in the last month, it has been revealed.

But there is a growing waiting list of people not necessarily hugely overweight, who want to go under knife, to look and feel better, said consultant general surgeon Dr Khalifa bin Dayna, according to a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

This is the first time such procedures have been carried out in Bahrain.

Dr Bin Dayna, who recently returned to Bahrain after training in the procedure in Germany, is one of only around 24 surgeons worldwide to have perfected the procedure.

"The five cases - including on three women - we have done so far have all been on people who have weighed between 150 and 200kg," Dr Bin Dayna told the GDN.

"They are all doing very well now and are expected to maintain low body weight for many years."

He said the process generates weight loss by restricting the amount of food (and therefore calories) that can be eaten by removing 85pc or more of the stomach, without bypassing the intestines or causing any gastrointestinal malabsorption.

"We already have around 35 people on the waiting list and it is growing," said Dr Bin Dayna.

"Many of the people on the waiting list are actually men and women who are not overly obese but wish to reduce and maintain lower weight to get married, change jobs, or just look good."

But patients must first go through a screening process to ensure they are suitable candidates for the procedure.

"The onus is on us to perform the surgery on cases which, if not managed, could lead to other medical complications," he said.

The stomach is restricted by stapling and dividing it vertically, then removing more than 85pc of it.

"This part of the procedure is not reversible," said Dr Bin Dayna.

"The stomach that remains is shaped like a very slim banana and measures from 30cc-150cc, depending on the surgeon performing the procedure.

"The nerves to the stomach and the outlet valve remain intact with, the idea of preserving the functions of the stomach while drastically reducing the volume. In the end, the patient eats less without compromising on the nutrition that the body needs."

Dr Bin Dayna said in the near future, he hopes to train young Bahrainis in the procedure, to coincide with the augmentation of facilities at the hospital.

"We hope the team can do between 10 and 15 such procedures a month when that happens." - TradeArabia News Service