What Is Gastric Bypass Surgery? And how does it work for patients who deal with obesity? Learn more.
What is Gastric Bypass Surgery? Gastric bypass surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgeries for weight loss treatment for people with obesity. This treatment was first performed in 1954 and was further improved during 1963.
How is gastric bypass performed over the years? It is called an open procedure wherein doctors make a large incision in the abdomen to perform the surgery. However, the morbidity and mortality rates during the early stages of its procedure were meager, leading to complications and infections.
In the 2000s, surgeons have transitioned to do bariatric surgeries such as bypass surgeries to perform laparoscopically, which is the only technique doctors use today. Laparoscopy is a procedure where doctors don’t have to make large incisions in the abdomen or pelvis to access these organs.
The gastric bypass procedure results from dividing and stapling the stomach to create a smaller upper pouch about the size of an egg that is separate from the large main stomach. The procedure also includes re-rounding the intestines to bypass the central part of the stomach and the first part of the intestine.
As a result, food and digestive juices travel down to the separate limbs of the intestines. This altered anatomy allows an individual to consume smaller portions due to a small stomach size while absorbing fewer calories as much as the intestines are bypassed.
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