Gastric Bypass
Gastric Bypass
Gastric bypass is the most common operation performed in America for weight loss. It is considered the gold standard, to which all other weight loss surgeries are compared.
The average stomach can hold 1 – 1 ½ quarts of food at a time. In the gastric bypass procedure, the top part of the stomach is separated from the remaining stomach to create a small pouch that can only hold 2 tablespoons of food. As a result, patients will feel full after eating small portions of food. So they will eat less.
Next, a piece of small intestine is brought up to the pouch and connected to it. Further downstream, the small intestine is reattached to itself, creating a “Y” shaped bypass. The bypass allows food to skip parts of the small intestine, and it reduces digestion of food. In this manner, the body absorbs fewer calories from meals.
Our experienced surgeons routinely perform this operation in less than one hour and the hospital stay is usually only one night. Recovery time is 1-2 weeks. Risks of surgery include bleeding, leakage, bowel blockage, blood clots, vitamin and mineral deficiency, and dumping syndrome.
On average, patients see a 41 – 54 kg weight loss in the first year after surgery. The majority of patients with diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, reflux, and high cholesterol will experience resolution of these diseases after surgery.
Below is an animation showing agastric bypass procedure and here are some other weight loss surgery.