Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Weight Loss Surgery in Just 400 Words

There are two categories of weight loss surgery, restrictive procedures and restrictive / malabsorptive procedures.

Restrictive Procedures

These are procedures that limit how much food the stomach can hold. These procedures are the simplest and safest type of weight loss surgery. Results in 20-25% weight loss on average. Gastric banding is reversible where as gastroplasty is not fully reversible. There are two sub-types:

1. Adjustable Gastric Banding: (Lap-Band is one brand name) This one takes about 30 minutes to an hour worth of surgery to place a band around the top of the stomach called the stoma.

2. Vertical Banded Gastroplasty: Staples your stomach to create a small pouch, and a band is placed at the bottom. The lap band procedure as all but replaced this procedure.

Restrictive or Malabsorptive Procedures

Restrictive/malabsorptive procedures have been shown to be the most successful type of bariatric surgery in terms of the amount of weight lost. They may be the best choice for people who are super obese. Results in between 35% and 50% weight loss on average, but 1 in 20 people lose less than 25%. The procedure is irreversible and involves major surgery that can result in death. Causes malnourishment and anemia requiring a high protein diet and life long supplements of vitamins and minerals.

Gastric Bypass (Roux–en–Y)

The stomach is stapled and the small intestine is shortened and fastened to the “new” smaller stomach. The most well proven procedure is called Roux-en-Y named after the French surgeon who developed it and the Y shape made by the re-routed intestines. The length by which the small intestine is bypassed is adjusted based on the amount of weight loss the patient requires.

Duodenal Switch or Biliopancreatic Diversion

The stomach is reduced in size and a bypass is installed to “bypass” half the small intestine. The weight loss happens because the small intestine where nutrients and calories are absorbed is shorter and therefore the body can not absorb as many of the calories in fat as it used to be able to. Effectively you can eat as before, but the fat is not absorbed as before and therefore you lose weight. 8 out of 10 patients are no longer morbidly obese.