Peachtree Surgical & Bariatrics offers several options for weight loss surgery. One of the most well-known is gastric bypass, also referred to as Roux-en-Y. Designed to reduce the amount of food you are able to eat by cutting away a part of the stomach, gastric bypass is a permanent procedure that helps patients achieve and maintain weight loss goals.
When gastric bypass is performed using the “open” approach, an incision is made in the abdomen extending from just below the sternum to an area slightly below the belly button. A stapling device is then used to create a tiny stomach pouch by partitioning the existing stomach, essentially changing its size and preventing too much food to be consumed. The “laparoscopic,” or minimally-invasive, approach follows the same guidelines as the “open surgery,” but is performed internally. Using five small keyhole-sized incisions, the bariatric surgeon relies on a camera that is inserted into one of the incisions to see inside the body, while using several small instruments inserted through the other incisions to perform the procedure.
Benefits of Gastric Bypass
Gastric bypass surgery offers many potential benefits. Typically, patients experience a shorter recovery and less scarring with laparoscopic surgery than with traditional open surgery. However, it is important to remember that laparoscopic surgery is not appropriate for every patient, and, in some cases, surgeons will not know if they can perform the procedure laparoscopically until the surgery is underway. Various medical conditions may make laparoscopic surgery unsafe for certain patients.
Risks and Considerations
- Gastric bypass patients may experience dumping syndrome, a very uncomfortable result of consuming high fat and high sugar foods.
- In some patients, if the pouch opening begins to enlarge after surgery an outpatient procedure called EGD with Sclerotherapy may have to be performed to shrink the opening
- Gastric bypass is major surgery and carries all the risks of a surgical procedure. Please contact us for more information on these risks.