EXPERT
Vishwanath Danthuluri
Surgeon
Dr. Vishwanath Danthuluri MD, FACS, FASMBS, DABOM is a robotic focused bariatric (wight loss) and forefut anti-reflux surgeon practicing in Atlanta, GA. He works with Beltline Health which has offices in Buckhead Atlanta as well as Stockbridge, Georgia. Dr. Danthuluri's patients know him as "Dr. D." He is a board certified General Surgeon but completed an Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) fellow ship after that. He has been inducted into the distinguished Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons within a couple of years of completing training which is a mark of his exceptional training and commitment to further learning. General surgeons are able to deal with almost any surgical or critical care emergency after extensive training. Dr. Danthuluri specializes in bariatric surgery and anti reflux surgery as his primary focus. He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) which is a membership reserved for only those bariatric surgeons whom have completed a certain quantity and complexity of bariatric surgeries. He can do the Sleeve Gastrectomy, Gastric Bypass, Duodenal Switch, and the newer SADI operation. He can also handle all issues related to these surgeries and can do revisions as well. He also is certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) and is happy to provide a customized hybrid care models using the latest weight loss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Zepbound amongst many others to help patients with their weight loss journey no matter where they are in the spectrum of disease and depending on their goals. Dr. D provides quality surgical service for helping patients achieve a healthy weight which can in turn, cure their diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, abnormal cholesterol, migraine headaches and more! He also focuses on helping people with their Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), which people refer to as heartburn symptoms. Esophageal cancer is on the rise and reflux is a major culprit. He loves educating patients on the pros and cons of life long antacid medications (omeprazole, nexium, pantoprazole, protonix, and others) versus surgery to cure the disease and reduce or resolve the medication burden. As such he can perform Hiatal Hernia Repair, the Nissen or Toupet Fundoplication, the LINX surgery or the Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) procedure. He can do diagnostic and therpeutic endoscopy as well. Overall he has top tier bedside manner and likability. He has a calm reassuring demeanor and can explain the most complex issues in terms anyone can understand. He is known for treating his patients like they're family!
7 years
Experience
Vishwanath Danthuluri
- Atlanta, GA
- University of South Alabama College of Medicine
- Accepting new patients
Let's Debunk Some Common Myths About Weight Loss Surgery
Let's Debunk Some Common Myths About Weight Loss SurgerySurgery Can Be a Great choice! Weight loss surgery is a topic that often sparks misconceptions. Let's address some of the...
How many days is recovery after gallstone surgery?
I usually tell my patients that by the 7-10day follow up you will be 90% back to normal. Normal means doing most of your activities of daily living and home chores and things like READ MORE
I usually tell my patients that by the 7-10day follow up you will be 90% back to normal. Normal means doing most of your activities of daily living and home chores and things like that. If your normal activity is being a construction worker, it could take longer. To be safe I recommend 2 weeks off as a standard work leave request. However my work-from-home types, software engineers, call center employees that sit and talk, they can go back to work sooner. I think it's a motivation factor too. I've had some patients that really hate missing work log back in for zoom meetings as early as 3 days after surgery. I've had others get the smoothest surgery for gallbladder without stones, tiny incisions, take the full two weeks "just because." My teachers, nurses, real estate agents who have to walk and sit and stand a lot, maybe push a patient or lift supplies, they usually need the full two weeks. Sometimes they go back to work sooner but with lighter duty obligations for a short period. Finally, my construction workers and bestbuy tv delivery people or roofing contractors, they may need the full two weeks or even longer like 3 weeks to make sure their movements aren't affected by the residual incision site pain. Keep in mind, some gallbladders with large stones require a pretty big incision and many deep stitches after removal. In that setting it may make sense to take a longer break. Also standard gallbladder surgery is laparoscopic or robotic and that's what I'm referring to. If you have a gallbladder emergency and get a big incision you'll definitely need longer to recover; like 4 weeks for a traditional "open" incision, but that's less than 1% of cases these days. There's so many variables here. However, my standard for 90% of patients these days is: 1. Take two weeks off, and can go back sooner after follow up if you're ready. 2. up and walking 3 hours after surgery and resume normal home activity (but heavy laundry lifting/yard work type activity) as soon as possible 3. Pain controlled usually without any narcotics. 4. Follow up in a week to ten days, and go from there. Hope this helps!
Can colon resection fix colon cancer?
It depends on what you mean by "fix," but here's what I'll offer. Yes if you have a appropriate staged colon cancer, one of the main modalities of therapy for this curable disease READ MORE
It depends on what you mean by "fix," but here's what I'll offer. Yes if you have a appropriate staged colon cancer, one of the main modalities of therapy for this curable disease is colon resection. Surgery can also be done for terminal colon cancer but to alleviate blockage and ease discomfort and help palliate symptoms. There's a lot of ways a colon cancer case may go. There could be a role for chemotherapy too. Ultimately this is such a unique case that is specific to each person's cancer, type of cancer, location, and stage. There is no simple answer. When you say "fix" if you mean cure the cancer, then yes sometimes surgery to remove that mass is part of the curative plan. If you mean "fix" as in alleviate the obstruction, then yes, many times surgery is needed for that. However I have to cautious, as some cancers can't be "fixed" and only measures to buy time and or comfort are feasible. But colon cancer is in the highly treatable arm of cancers these days so many patients have a good chance at presentation for getting "fixed" one way or another. Do talk to your surgeon for specifics about your case. My best advice is make sure you have a colon surgeon that does a lot of cancer work, and ideally works at a center where they do "tumor board" meetings. That's when a team of physicians like the medical oncologist, the surgical oncologist/or colon-rectal surgeon, radiation oncology and other team members meet to discuss each case and decide the best treatment and order of steps to take for the best outcome. I don't do colon cancer surgery these days, but I hope that helps!
Do you have pain after lipoma surgery?
Yes of course. There is no pain free surgery. If expectations are set the way I would, and pain control offered appropriately, then for any surgery in my opinion you should have READ MORE
Yes of course. There is no pain free surgery. If expectations are set the way I would, and pain control offered appropriately, then for any surgery in my opinion you should have a 3-6/10 pain that is temporary for a few days while at home. That's a mild to moderate pain ideally controlled without narcotics. That's what I have achieved with my patients getting major surgery especially with laparoscopic or robotic surgeries and I seldom provide narcotics these days. The lipoma involves the skin where you have more sensory receptors than elsewhere in the abdomen possibly and depending on the size and surgeon technique pain could be closer to that 6/10 instead of 3/10 but by about the one week follow up you should just be "sore." I would ask if the surgeon is familiar with and can offer some long acting local anesthetics in that area for longer local pain control to get through the worst which is the first 24-72 hours. Hope this helps!
How long is the hospital stay for rectal prolapse surgery?
Dear patient, It depends on the operation being done and severity of the prolapse as well as preexisting conditions you may have. In my experience it’s usually just an overnight READ MORE
Dear patient,
It depends on the operation being done and severity of the prolapse as well as preexisting conditions you may have. In my experience it’s usually just an overnight observation. Good luck!
Thanks,
Vishu Danthuluri, M.D.
It depends on the operation being done and severity of the prolapse as well as preexisting conditions you may have. In my experience it’s usually just an overnight observation. Good luck!
Thanks,
Vishu Danthuluri, M.D.
What is the best surgery for a hiatal hernia?
The broad simplified answer will be “robotic (or laparoscopic) hiatal hernia repair with gastric fundoplication.” However we need to break down that named surgery to its component READ MORE
The broad simplified answer will be “robotic (or laparoscopic) hiatal hernia repair with gastric fundoplication.” However we need to break down that named surgery to its component parts to fully explain the options available to accomplish each part. Ultimately the “best” surgery for YOUR hiatal hernia will be need to determined by your surgeon by assessing size of the hernia itself, degree and severity of associated reflux disease and whether or not you have a normal functioning esophagus. As for the component parts: I’m equally skilled in laparoscopic and robotic techniques but can attest that the robot has an advantage for larger hernias. So if you have two surgeons and one does robotic and one doesn’t, I’d personally go with the robot. The hiatal hernia repair is pretty standard but whether or not mesh is used can be discussed. I rarely use mesh but when I do it’s for larger ones. The gastric fundoplication part is probably the most variable thing to discuss. I won’t go into detail. From my point of view there’s three options. Something called a Nissen fundoplication, using the top of the stomach to wrap the esophagus to prevent reflux. This is a full wrap. It has great reflux treatment success but can cause bloating and inability to vomit. There’s a Toupet fundoplication. It’s a partial wrap. Some data says it’s as good at curing the reflux but allows better belching and vomiting. It can have a slight recurrence rate or propensity to fall apart in the wrong hands. Lastly the newest option is the LINX device which is a string of magnets to help with the reflux while allowing belching and vomiting. There’s excellent outcomes and if it fails in the long run for some reason can do the traditional stuff. You can Google and see videos on the LINX and others now that you know all the terms. Good luck!!
Thanks,
Vishu Danthuluri, M.D.
Thanks,
Vishu Danthuluri, M.D.
Can external hemorrhoids be removed without surgery?
The short answer is yes. If by “removal” you mean non-surgical “treatment” options. To physically remove them that would require surgery. However, the type of treatment and timing READ MORE
The short answer is yes. If by “removal” you mean non-surgical “treatment” options. To physically remove them that would require surgery. However, the type of treatment and timing depends first on whether or not you have symptoms. There is first-line conservative management that everyone should do once they have hemorrhoids. Following that there are office-based procedure options that would not require full-blown surgery. To my knowledge, many of these have a relatively significant risk of recurrent disease. The definitive treatment is surgical however I would not jump to surgery myself without first doing lifestyle modification to avoid another flareup or progression, followed by medical treatment options and if all of that is failing would try some of these non-surgical, office-based procedures. Each treatment option, timing, expectation requires a lot of detailed explanation. The bottom line is if it is bothering you significantly at this time go ahead and seek a referral from your primary care doctor. The primary care doc can institute some basic recommendations and common medications for symptom control. If it were me I would then go straight to a colorectal surgeon as they are more likely to have the latest treatment techniques as well as all of the instruments and office-based treatment modalities at their disposal. Good luck!
