Duodenal Switch Surgery

Gastric bypass is a form of bariatric surgery that is mainly performed for a severely obese person i.e. whose BMI (Body mass index) is more than 40 and are unable to attain sustainable weight loss by another dietary methods and also having other weight related co-morbidities like type-2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea and many other.

Unlike other weight loss surgery, gastric bypass surgery promotes weight loss by restricting the amount of food intake and making you feel full and thus reduces the amount of calorie consumed. Two most common techniques of gastric bypass surgery include:

• Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
• Biliopancreatic diversion bypass

Roux-en-Y surgery is least complex form of gastric bypass surgery as compared to the biliopancreatic diversion bypass. In the surgery, the size of the stomach is reduced making a small pouch at the upper end of the stomach using a band or staple. The pouch is then connected to the middle portion of the small intestine bypassing the stomach and duodenum. On the other hand, in biliopancreatic diversion, portion of the stomach is bypassed and connected to the distal ileum. However, this procedure is not widely used because of risk of nutritional deficiency.

However, both the gastric bypass surgery techniques reduce the amount of nutrients and calorie absorption and restrict the amount of food intake and reduce food and hunger cravings. The surgery usually takes 4 to 5 hours and required about seven day of staying in the hospital.

Usually, it requires about four to five weeks to recover from surgery. During this period, patients are advised to eat smaller meal. One should chew their food properly otherwise it may cause vomiting and pain. Foods like juices, ice cream, or sugary foods should be avoided because it may cause diarrhea and dumping syndrome. So, after surgery, one should take proper care of diet and other lifestyle changes. Common risk included like other weight loss surgery is leakage, blood clot, nutritional deficiency and osteoporosis.

By far, gastric bypass surgery is an effective weight loss surgery for severely obese people. Usually, it is estimated that patient lose about one-third of their excess weight in one to four years following the surgery. Beside that there are also other form of Bariatric surgery for morbid obesity like gastric sleeve, duodenal switch surgery and gastric band surgery and many other.