How it works to help you lose weight?
Gastric bypass, which combines restrictive and malabsorptive surgery techniques, is the most frequently performed bariatric procedure in the United States. In this procedure, stapling creates a small (15 to 20 cc) stomach pouch. The remainder of the stomach is not removed, but is completely stapled shut and divided from the lower stomach pouch. The outlet from this newly formed pouch empties directly into the lower portion of the jejunum, thus bypassing calorie absorption and the duodenum. To achieve this, the small intestine is divided just beyond the duodenum and a connection with the new, smaller stomach pouch is constructed. The length of either segment of the intestine can be increased to produce lower or higher levels of malabsorption.
Obesity becomes morbid obesity when an adult is 45 kgs or more over ideal body weight,2 has a BMI of 40 or more,2,3 or has a BMI of 35 or more in combination with a health-related condition such as obstructive sleep apnea or a disease such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
Advantages
- Limits the amount of food that can be eaten at a meal and reduces the desire to eat.
- Average excess weight lose is generally higher than with gastric banding or sleeve gastrectomy.
- No postoperative adjustments are required.
- An analysis of clinical studies reported an average excess weight lose of 61.6% in 4204 patients.
- Shown to help resolve type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and obstructive sleep apnea, and to help improve high cholesterol.
- In a study of 608 gastric bypass patients, 553 maintained contact for 14 years; the study reported that significant weight lose was maintained at 14 years.