Duodenal Switch Surgery

In few years, there is an increased rate in the number of surgical procedures for getting rid of morbid obesity. There are wide number of patients who actually get desirable outcome after weight loss surgery. Duodenal switch revision surgery is frequently performed in patients those who are not satisfied with the previous weight loss procedures and experienced weight gain and other associated complications like dumping syndrome etc.

Duodenal switch surgery combines both restrictive and malabsorptive procedures and is widely accepted as a successful procedure for morbid obesity. The basic reasons for the need of duodenal switch revision include inadequate weight loss, excessive weight loss, and weight gain and may be nutritional deficiency or due to failure of other surgical procedure. About 2-5% of duodenal surgery patients are duodenal switch revision patients.

Treating malabsorptive complications often require elongation of intestine and common limbs. The elongation of common limb increases the area for the fat, protein and starch absorption. Due to increased ability of fat absorption, the patient’s ability to absorb vitamins also increases. The patients those who had gastric bypass surgery, requires duodenal switch revision which are metabolically more active than the pouch re-trimming.

Mostly, surgical revision procedure is done to reduce the causes of malnutrition and dumping syndrome. There are several dietary supplements are available that helps to manage malabsorptive syndrome. But the surgical revision helps the patients from any sort of weight-gain. For patients, with inadequate weight loss, reduction of stomach size and the shortening of limb can be beneficial.

Therefore, in patients in which weight loss surgery like gastric bypass, gastroplasty or other surgery provides insufficient weight loss results, then duodenal switch revision surgery can be performed as a safe operation. Lap band surgery patients having inadequate weight loss can go for duodenal switch revision. As well as patients of vertical sleeve gastrectomy can be safely converted with duodenal switch revision. Several gastric patients require duodenal switch revision not only for the inadequate weight loss but also for complications like mouth ulcer and dumping syndrome.