Gastric bypass surgery is in the news a lot and it is being used as a method of weight control by more men than ever.

Surgery Overview

Gastric bypass surgery will make your stomach smaller and allow food to bypass part of the small intestine. This causes you to feel full more quickly than when your stomach was its original size. This will reduce the amount of food you eat and thus the calories consumed. Bypassing part of the intestine results in fewer calories being absorbed which leads to weight loss.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
 
In normal digestion the food you eat passes through the stomach and enters the small intestine, this is where most of the nutrients and calories are absorbed. The food then passes into the large intestine (colon), and the remaining waste is eventually excreted.  When you have a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a small pouch is created at the top of the stomach using surgical staples or a plastic band. This smaller stomach is connected directly to the middle portion of the small intestine (jejunum), bypassing the rest of the stomach and the upper portion of the small intestine (duodenum).

This procedure can be done in two ways, by making a large incision in the abdomen (an open procedure) or by making a small incision and using small instruments and a camera to guide the surgery (laparoscopic approach) this is also known as micro surgery.

After Surgery

Gastric bypass surgery involves a 4- to 6-day hospital stay (2 to 3 days for a laparoscopic approach) in most cases. Most people return to their normal life within 3 to 5 weeks.

Gastric bypass surgeries may cause something known as dumping syndrome. This happens when food moves too quickly through the stomach and intestines. Dumping syndrome causes nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, and possibly diarrhea soon after eating. Eating highly refined, high-calorie foods (like sweets) can make the effects worse.

Any surgery has risk, and it is important for you and your DR to discuss your treatment options to decide what is best for your situation, In most cases gastric bypass surgery is only suggested when someone is morbidly obese, which means your weight is reducing your life expectancy.

How Well It Works

People who have gastric bypass surgery quickly begin to lose weight usually and they continue to lose weight for up to a year. One study noted that people lost about one-third of their excess weight (the weight above what is considered healthy) in 1 to 4 years.

Once the weight loss has started you should also feel more comfortable about increasing your level of exercise. Laparoscopic surgery showed similar results, with 69% to 82% of excess weight lost over 12 to 54 months.
 
Risks

Risks common to all surgeries for weight loss include an infection in the incision, a leak from the stomach into the abdominal cavity or where the intestine is connected (resulting in an infection called peritonitis), and a blood clot in the lung (pulmonary embolism). About one-third of all people having surgery for obesity develop gallstones or a nutritional deficiency condition such as anemia or osteoporosis.
 
Fewer than 3 in 200 (1.5%) people die after surgery for weight loss.

All surgeries have risk, and it is important for you and your health professional to discuss your treatment options to decide what is best for your situation.