Gastric bypass is a procedure in which the stomach is made smaller, reducing the amount of food required to feel full. It is a weight loss measure that is used for patients whose obesity is causing health problems. It works both by shrinking the size of the stomach and by changing the digestive process. The surgery can be performed in one of two ways: open surgery or laparoscopy.
Open Surgery
Open surgery was the traditional method of gastric bypass surgery, but has a longer recovery time and a greater risk of hernias, infection at the incision and/or scarring. During open surgery, the doctor makes an incision on the abdomen to open the stomach, and then uses surgical tools, held in his hands, to perform the bypass procedure.
Laparoscopy
Laparoscopy is a less risky method of gastric bypass surgery for most patients. To begin the laparoscopy procedure, your doctor makes between four and six small incisions in the abdomen. A small camera, called a laparscope, is inserted in one of the incisions and thin surgical tools will be inserted into the others. The small camera allows the doctor to see your stomach's insides on a TV monitor, and he/she uses the other tools inserted in the incisions to do the bypass procedure.
Bypass Procedure
The bypass procedure has 2 goals. The first is to reduce the size of the stomach. This is done by separating a small pouch that can hold about 2 tablespoons of food, and then using staples to separate that pouch from the rest of your stomach. All food you eat will now go into the pouch instead of the rest of the stomach, so you will feel full much faster. The second goal is to reduce absorption of food so your body takes in less fat and calories. To do this, the doctor connects the jejunum (which is a part of the small intestine) to the pouch, so the food will travel directly from the pouch through the jejunum into the small intestine, thus skipping part of the intestinal track.
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