Roux en Y Gastric Bypass Surgical Procedure

Gastric Procedures, Gastroplasty, and Gastric Bypass are all designed to reduce food intake by limiting the reservoir (pouch) capacity of the stomach, and to slow emptying. The idea is for you to feel "full" after eating a small amount of food. On previous diets, you probably never felt "full" and hunger was always present. Following a gastric procedure, you will probably never be able to eat the "normal" plate of food you used to eat.

It involves creating a small pouch from the top part of your stomach and adds a bypass around the remaining stomach and part of your small intestine (duodenum), where most of the calories from foods that you eat are absorbed. This surgery does double duty. It reduces what you can eat, and it reduces the calories your body absorbs. 

(click on picture for video) The surgeon staples your stomach all of the way across the top, leaving a tiny pouch. Then the surgeon cuts the small intestine and sews, or staples, a part of it directly onto the upper pouch, (the "stoma" is the opening from the pouch to the small intestine). This redirects the food, bypassing most of your stomach and the first section of your small intestine (duodenum). Food flows directly into the middle section of your small intestine (jejunum), limiting your body's ability to absorb calories. Even though food never enters the lower part of your stomach, the stomach stays healthy and continues making digestive juices that flow into your small intestine. Most surgeons prefer this procedure because it appears to be most effective. 

Some surgeons can perform gastric bypass by inserting laparoscopes — tiny, tubular instruments with a small camera attached — through small incisions made in the abdomen. This is called laparoscopic gastric bypass. Performing the operation laparoscopically can help decrease your hospital stay and lead to a quicker recovery. There also appear to be fewer wound-related problems with laparoscopic gastric bypass than with the traditional "open" gastric bypass. Not everyone is a candidate for laparoscopic gastric bypass, so consult your doctor.

When appropriate, weight-loss surgery can result in dramatic improvements in weight and health. In the first year or two, most people lose 50 percent to 60 percent of their excess weight. Generally, those who follow dietary and exercise recommendations keep most of that weight off long term.

However, weight-loss surgery does have side effects. Complications such as pneumonia, blood clots and infection can occur with any type of surgery. Rapid weight loss can result in fatigue, dry skin and temporary hair loss. A hernia or weakness, which may require surgery to correct, may develop at the site of your incision.

For the first six months after surgery, if you eat too much or too fast, you'll experience nausea and other symptoms, called dumping syndrome. Over time, you'll be able to increase your food intake.

Surgery for weight reduction isn't a miracle procedure. Though you can expect to lose weight and keep it off, you still need to eat healthy foods and remain active.

The procedures are considered permanent. They can be reversed, but, weight gain virtually always recurs.

The reservoir or "pouch", created by the stapling, is about the size of a small egg,

and the "stoma", the opening from the pouch to the small intestine, is about one half inch in diameter, less than the size of a dime.

Therefore, the pouch empties slowly through this small opening and you feel "full" for a longer period of time.