Gastric Bypass

If a greater amount of weight loss is desired, and you are willing to weigh up the higher degree of risk involved in this surgery, a gastric bypass may be the preferred option.

The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass involves stapling the stomach across the upper part to create a small pouch similar in size to the one formed by the gastric band. Part of the small bowel is then joined to the pouch to allow the stomach to empty directly into it and as the stomach and much of the small bowel is bypassed, less food is absorbed.

Gastric bypass operations can also be performed laparoscopically (keyhole technique) but sometimes it is necessary to do an open operation instead.

This operation takes around 3 hours to perform and patients stay in hospital 4-5 nights afterwards. It is a major operation and you would expect to be off work for around six weeks afterwards. There is a quoted 1% risk of dying during or as a result of the gastric bypass operation. The main cause is the development of a blood clot in your lungs and we take great care to minimize this risk with the use of anticoagulant (blood thinning) drugs and early mobilization after the operation.

Whichever technique is used the published data suggest that this is a safe operation with reliable weight loss. The data suggest that with gastric bypass weight loss is maintained over many years. The gastric bypass cannot be reversed. After gastric bypass deficiencies in iron and calcium can occur and supplements may be necessary. This is one of the reasons why lifelong follow up is mandatory.