Difficulties in Water Consumption After Gastric Surgery

Drinking adequate fluids, especially water, in the early phase after bariatric surgery is important to ensure that the patient can be safely discharged from the hospital. Gastric sleeve surgery is the most commonly used surgical method in the world. Insufficient water consumption after gastric surgery leads to many problems. In addition, adequate water intake is essential for losing weight.

Patients should consume at least 2 liters of water per day and women at least 1.5 liters of water per day.

According to our observations, some patients after gastric sleeve surgery have more difficulty consuming water than other liquids.

Patients who have difficulty drinking water after gastric surgery report that they have replaced their drinking water with an increased amount of juice, especially in the first 2 months. This reduces weight loss and can even lead to weight gain in the long run.

There is insufficient scientific evidence to explain the difficulty some patients have in drinking water compared to other fluid consumers after gastric surgery.

Those who have difficulty drinking water after gastric surgery should be offered methods to change the taste of water rather than consuming calorie liquids instead of water.  Or low-calorie liquids should be preferred.

We observe that most of the complaints of patients who have difficulty consuming water after gastric surgery have subsided by the 3rd month after surgery.