Gastric Bypass

Gas­tric Bypass Gas­tric bypass is a min­i­mal­ly inva­sive weight-loss pro­ce­dure per­formed through laparo­scop­ic or robot­ic tech­niques that cre­ates a small stom­ach pouch by sta­pling the upper sec­tion of the stom­ach. This surgery is rec­om­mend­ed for indi­vid­u­als with a BMI of 35 or high­er, or a BMI of 30 or high­er with obe­si­ty-relat­ed health con­di­tions. The Roux-en‑Y tech­nique is the most com­mon­ly used form of gas­tric bypass.

The Sur­gi­cal Approach

Laparo­scop­ic or robot­ic gas­tric bypass is con­duct­ed under gen­er­al anes­the­sia. The sur­geon cre­ates 4 to 6 tiny key­hole open­ings in your abdomen. Through one open­ing, they insert a laparo­scope — a spe­cial­ized tube con­tain­ing a light source and small cam­era. This cam­era con­nects to a mon­i­tor, pro­vid­ing the sur­geon with an enlarged view of the sur­gi­cal area. Addi­tion­al sur­gi­cal tools enter through the remain­ing openings.

The sur­geon cre­ates a small pouch by sta­pling the upper stom­ach sec­tion. This small­er stom­ach por­tion is then direct­ly con­nect­ed to your small intes­tine. Final­ly, the small inci­sions are closed with stitches.

Fol­low­ing surgery, this new­ly formed pouch can only accom­mo­date a few ounces of food at once, and food now bypass­es much of your low­er stom­ach and upper small intes­tine. This results in feel­ing sat­is­fied with less food and reduced calo­rie absorp­tion, help­ing pro­mote weight loss.

Poten­tial Complications

As with any sur­gi­cal pro­ce­dure, gas­tric bypass may involve cer­tain risks, includ­ing bleed­ing, infec­tion, and blood clot formation.

Ben­e­fits

• The advan­tages of laparo­scop­ic or robot­ic gas­tric bypass include:
• Faster ini­tial weight reduc­tion with mod­er­ate­ly greater total weight loss
• Short­er hos­pi­tal recov­ery time
• Reduced post-sur­gi­cal discomfort
• Small­er inci­sions result­ing in less vis­i­ble scarring
• Improve­ment in obe­si­ty-relat­ed health conditions