Gastric Bypass Options
All You Need to Know about your Gastric Bypass Surgery options including risks, costs, complications,and recovery.
Among the most effective forms of weight loss surgery is the gastric bypass surgery. It must be noted however that not all gastro-intestinal surgeries entail bypassing the intestines. It however, like all other weight loss surgeries, reduces calorie intake, appetite and calorie absorption.
There are two kinds of weight loss surgeries: mal-absorptive and restrictive. If you are having a mal-absorptive case of weight loss surgery, your rate of calorie absorption is reduced. While if you are having the restrictive case of weight loss surgery, the amount of food that you can hold is the one being reduced. It is the joy for the morbid obese that these two kinds of weight loss surgeries can be combined into one procedure: the gastric bypass method. Basically, there are three types of bypass procedures: the Roux-en-Y stomach surgery, Mini-gastric bypass surgery (Laparoscopic method) and the Biliopancreatic diversion.
The Roux-en-Y stomach surgery is done by separating the upper part of the stomach from the rest of it with the use of staples of plastic bonding. This is where the small pouch is created and is then connected to the lower end of the smaller intestines to bypass most of the absorption process. By bypassing the upper end of the small intestines, the distinctive “Y” connection of the amputated intestine to the rest of the intestine makes it possible to still deliver the necessary digestive juices to process proper digestion and absorption. It is at the upper part of the small intestine (duodenum) that most of the absorption takes place which by bypassing it, makes it possible to reduce the calorie intake by also, reducing fat absorption.
Mini-Gastric Bypass surgery is the same as the laparoscopic surgery. Unlike Roux-en-Y, this surgery produces fewer scars and allows the patient to recover faster. It must be made clear to the patients that this approach is still quite new which makes long-term results not fully evaluated. Laparoscopic surgery is done by creating small incisions and with the use of long tube-like instruments inserted through the small incisions. Among these instruments is one that is equipped with a small camera which is connected to a monitor which allows the surgeons to see the inside of the abdomen while performing the surgery. Also, unlike the Roux-en-Y, this surgery does not create a smaller pouch. Hence, it staples the stomach into a tube on the less curved side of the stomach which directs itself right to the lower end of the intestines.
Biliopancreatic diversion on the other hand is the more morbid procedure than the other two. It involves totally removing a large part of the stomach but the small part of it is still attached to the lower end of the small intestines, leaving the upper end of the intestines un-attached within the abdominal cavity. Contrary to the traditional way of cutting through the stomach, the stomach is removed vertically, only the stomach is larger than a narrow tube. The natural pyloric valve however, is still intact so that the release of food from the stomach is still controlled. Also, a considerable length of the upper small intestines is left intact and connected to lower end of the small intestines and bypassing only the middle part of the small intestines.
Before you decide to undergo any of these surgeries, make sure you are eligible to go under the knife. Consult your doctor and your insurance company before considering surgery.
