Gastric bypass surgery

What is Gastric Bypass Surgery?

There are several surgical treatments that can help people with obesity. These are known as Bariatric Surgical treatments. One of the most successful is Gastric Bypass Surgery.

The aim of gastric bypass surgery is to reduce the appetite of the patient long term. A patient with morbid obesity is in desperate need of real weight loss, and the best way to attack his problem is to cut down on their intake of food and their relationship to eating.

How does it work?

Gastric Bypass involves sectioning off a small pouch in the stomach, usually at the top of the stomach. The intestine is then re-sectioned so that it joins up to this "new" stomach, leaving a larger unused section of stomach below.

The volume of this new "stomach" is much smaller than before, and this starts to have long term effects on the appetite of the patient, and the way they approach eating and food. The stomach is generally reduced by almost 90%, and patients normally show reductions in their weight of up to 65%.

Risks and complications

It is a long and complex operation, and the usual risks that attend such surgery are present. However, there are developments, such as laprascopic surgery that use cameras rather than large incisions; this makes the surgery much less invasive.