Obesity comes with the risk of serious health consequences like hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, arthritis, heart failure and many more. Without being an infectious disease, obesity is spreading as an epidemic. It has become a major health concern for America, because it’s the most prevalent cause of increased morbidity and mortality. Bariatric surgeries are the last resort for the severely obese patients who are at the risk of fatal outcomes due to associated co morbidities. Gastric bypass surgery is a type of bariatric surgery, which is performed to induce a quick and prominent weight loss in severely obese patients who cannot be managed by other means.
Gastric bypass surgery and weight loss
Gastric bypass surgery is the term used for the surgical procedures that divides the stomach in two parts and them to the intestine. One part of the stomach is small and another is relatively larger. Most of the food enters the smaller part of the stomach. There are a number of ways by which the surgery can be performed. The most common gastric bypass surgeries are Roux en-Y proximal gastric bypass, Roux en-Y distal gastric bypass and Mini gastric bypass.
The size of the stomach is reduced by 90% with gastric bypass surgery, hence patients feel fullness of stomach after eating less quantity of food. Moreover, the intestine is connected to the smaller part of the stomach in such a way that the absorbing surface area is decreased by 50-70%.
The appetite of the person is decreased immensely leading to quick weight loss. Gradually over the time, the stomach gets adopted and size of the smaller part increases. This helps the patient maintain the reduced body weight achieved initially.
It is also reported that, gastric bypass surgery reduces the severity of comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes. Data from animal research has also shown that gastric bypass surgery not only reduces the appetite but also increases the energy expenditure during rest. Overall, long term result of gastric bypass reduces mortality risk by 40%.
How common is gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass is the most commonly performed bariatric surgery. More than 20,000 gastric bypass surgeries were performed in the US in the year 2008. The numbers are estimated to increase over time.
Eligibility for gastric bypass surgery
Bariatric surgeries, including gastric bypass is recommended only for the patients at increased risk of fatal outcome due to obesity associated comorbidities, who are not responding to other approaches of weight management. Following are the eligibility criteria established by the conference panel of the National Institute of Health (NIH):
BMI (Body Mass Index) ≥ 40
BMI between 35-40 with at least one co-morbidity (diabetes, hypertension, joint disease, decreased mobility)
History of failed attempts to other weight management options including medications
Complications of gastric bypass surgery
Like, every other surgery, gastric bypass surgeries also have complications like infection, bleeding, hernia, nutritional deficiency, bowel obstructions. Frequency of complications varies from 7%-15% depending on the procedure used and patient characteristics. Death within the 6 months of surgery has also been reported with the frequency of 0.5% after the surgery. Fortunately, the frequency of complications has been decreased by 50% in the last decade, mostly due to improvement in techniques and knowledge. Similarly, hospitalization due within 6 months of surgery has decreased to 7% from 10% in the last few years.
Memorial Weight Loss Center of New Mexico, educates patients about gastric bypass surgery and makes them feel comfortable before surgery begins. Visit hospital today to learn more.
