Vanguard Surgical LLC

09/12/2024

Dr. Michael Hughes with Vanguard Surgical reviews a day of gastroparesis surgery at PMC Regional Hospital in New Albany, Indiana.

07/18/2024

Transforming the lives of patients all day long.

Dr. Michael Hughes created Vanguard Surgical in 2019 to focus on the medical and surgical management of gastroparesis. Patients with gastroparesis suffer fro...

07/08/2024

Gastroparesis Daily Digest with Dr. Michael Hughes at Vanguard Surgical

07/01/2024

This is an important problem as can make your life miserable. Our practice is focused on gastroparesis, and we have seen how these drugs create or worsen this disease. While we do not see the role of gastric bypass as mentioned in this video, there are other medical and surgical options available that can help. Feel free to contact us at 502-912-8300 or visit our website (www.vanguardsurgical.net) for more information.

WDRB Investigates started digging into the serious side effects and found thousands of others are suffering too.

05/17/2024

Dr. Michael Hughes has performed over 1,000 laparoscoic surgeries for gastroparesis! Watch this full length video (2x speed) to see how he performs the surgery for a very thickened pylorus. Surgery is outpatient, meaning home same day.
💚

01/19/2024

We just found out today that Passport by Molina Healthcare now covers gastric stimulation for gastroparesis. This is great news for our patients! They do not cover temporary trials of gastric stimulation, as they consider this experimental. We do not do temporary trials of gastric stimulation at Vanguard Surgical (www.vanguardsurgical.net), so this is not an issue for our patients.

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving the patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245.

11/07/2023

Gastroparesis: How am I so full when I don’t eat anything??

10/06/2023

Congratulations to our latest “graduate” from gastroparesis! She had a gastric stimulator placed by another surgeon and despite having it turned up, she was vomiting multiple times a day and could not get control of her pain. Dr. Michael Hughes performed a laparoscopic pyloroplasty 1-month ago. She no longer throws up, rarely has nausea, and her pain is gone, even with her stimulator turned all the way down! Awesome!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving the patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245.

07/25/2023

https://youtu.be/OiqKZG_9ZbI

Gastroparesis is characterized by some combination of nausea, vomiting, bloating, early satiey and upper abdominal pain. It can be due to diabetes, autoimmun...

06/30/2023

Dr. Hughes removed a gastric stimulator placed by another surgeon. Wires were tightly coiled and likely damaged, as the generator was not anchored down.

When the generator is anchored down properly, it can “flip” like a door on hinges as patients move around.

06/28/2023

One of our pyloroplasty patients found Dr. Hughes’ Mini Me!

05/23/2023

Congrats to our latest “graduate” from gastroparesis! One month after outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty, she is 80% better! In another two months it will open further, and she should feel even better. No need for gastric stimulation. Awesome!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving the patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245.

05/23/2023

Congrats to our latest graduate from gastroparesis! Patient was on high gastric stimulator settings requiring frequent replacement for depleted battery. Dr. Hughes did an outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty and turned her stimulator back down to the lowest settings 3-months ago. She still feels great! Awesome!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving the patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245.

04/26/2023

Please welcome Taylor Rich, our nurse practitioner, to Vanguard Surgical! Here she is learning how to adjust gastric stimulators from Enterra Medical’s Austin Anderson.

01/24/2023

Congratulations to our latest “graduate” from gastroparesis! One month after outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty, he is eating cheeseburgers and pulled pork sandwiches instead of throwing up. Awesome!! Not everyone gets such a good response, so we love celebrating those that do!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving the patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245.

12/17/2022

Freedom from Gastroparesis is Possible! Outpatient Surgery. Expert Surgeon.

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

10/25/2022

Congrats to our latest “graduate” from gastroparesis! One month after outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty, his nausea and pain are gone!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

10/12/2022

Congrats to our latest “graduate” from the pain of chronic pancreatitis! She has fully recovered from her pancreatectomy and her constant pain of 12 years is gone! No pancreas, No pain, No problem! Awesome and congrats!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

10/07/2022

Our one and only awesome Michelle received flowers from a happy patient and her dad for helping her out! Great job Michelle!!

09/11/2022

Dr. Michael Hughes with the assistance of Dr. Kevin O’Koon successfully removed another pancreas (total pancreatectomy - TP) to cure a patient of chronic pain from chronic pancreatitis. The following day, he will return the patient’s insulin producing cells with islet auto-transplant (IAT) into the liver using Kyslecel. Amazing!!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

06/24/2022

Our gastroparesis warrior has conquered her disease! One month after outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty by Dr. Michael Hughes, she is feeling great! So blessed!! Look at that SMILE!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

06/24/2022

Congratulations to our amazing gastroparesis warrior! She has conquered her gastroparesis one month after outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty! Her gastroparesis is almost completely GONE!!! Wooo Hooo!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

06/24/2022

Congratulations to our gastroparesis warrior that has finally "graduated" from her gastroparesis! It has been a long road, but she is finally feeling great! We are so thankful!! You go girl!!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

06/24/2022

Congratulations to our latest gastroparesis “graduate”! She had her gastric stimulator placed by another group and was not satisfied with her care. She came to us for help. Dr. Michael Hughes fixed her stimulator, performed a pyloroplasty, and she went home the same day! One month later, she feels so much better! So happy for her!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at 502-563-1261 or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

06/02/2022

Congrats to yet another “graduate” from gastroparesis!! Her symptoms are almost entirely gone just weeks after outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty!! Not everyone has such a great response. We love it when we see our patients get so much better!!

Trusted Gastrointestinal Surgeon serving patients of Louisville, KY. Contact us by phone at or visit us at 2401 Terra Crossing Blvd, Suite 375, Louisville, KY 40245. | Vanguard Surgical LLC

06/02/2022

Celebrating our latest “graduation” from gastroparesis after outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty! Congrats!!

Dr. Michael Hughes, Jr., M.D at Vanguard Surgical has performed more surgeries for gastroparesis with reduced costs for patients than any other surgeon in the world.

06/01/2022

Congrats to another “graduate” from gastroparesis after outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty!!

Dr. Michael Hughes, Jr., M.D at Vanguard Surgical has performed more surgeries for gastroparesis with reduced costs for patients than any other surgeon in the world.

04/22/2022

Congratulations to our latest “graduate” from gastroparesis! Her gastric stimulator was turned up so high that the battery was lasting less than a year. One month after Dr. Michael Hughes performed an outpatient laparoscopic pyloroplasty on her and turned the stimulator back down to the lowest settings, she is doing great! No need to turn it up! Amazing result!!

Dr. Michael Hughes, Jr., M.D at Vanguard Surgical has performed more surgeries for gastroparesis with reduced costs for patients than any other surgeon in the world.

04/09/2022

HOW LONG DOES THE GASTRIC STIMULATOR BATTERY LAST?

It depends! The gastric stimulator is initially placed on the lowest settings to achieve the longest possible battery life. At best, this is 7-10 years. Every time the stimulator is turned up, the battery life goes down more quickly.

Settings are determined primarily by the number of pacemaker cells (interstitial cells of Cajal, CD117) and nerve cells (myenteric plexus neurons, S-100) in the stomach.

At Vanguard Surgical, we remove a small piece of stomach ("gastric resection") to count the number of these cells. We then use these cell counts to determine how much to increase settings with each visit.

We also use these cell counts to better individualize each patient's care. Every patient is different and needs to be treated differently!

04/08/2022

HOW DO YOU ADJUST THE GASTRIC STIMULATOR FOR GASTROPARESIS?

Since the gastric stimulator is battery powered and cannot be recharged, it is initially placed on the lowest settings to achieve the longest possible battery life.

The patient is seen in clinic every 1-2 months to adjust up the settings per the Medtronic protocol until symptoms are at least 50% better.

When the battery is depleted, symptoms return and the generator needs to be replaced. On the lowest settings, the battery should last 7-10 years. Every time the settings are increased, the battery is depleted more quickly.