Obesity Surgery

A Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery is the most commonly performed bariatric surgery. Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery works by combining both restrictive and malabsorptive elements. In a Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery, a small pouch at the top of the stomach is created. This pouch is the only part of the stomach that receives food. Such an arrangement is done to limit the amount or the quantity of food or liquids that you can comfortably eat and drink at one time. This makes you feel full early thus limiting your food intake. Once the pouch is created at the top of the stomach, your small intestine is then cut a short distance below the main stomach and connected directly to the pouch. The food that you eat flows directly from the pouch into this part of the intestine. The lower section of the main part of your stomach no longer receives, stores, and mixes food but remains functional by continuing to secrete digestive juices. The portion of the intestine still attached to the lower section of the main stomach is reattached farther down. This allows the digestive juices to flow to the small intestine. Since the food that you eat now bypasses a portion of the small intestine, fewer nutrients and calories are absorbed by the body.

In an adjustable gastric banding procedure, an inflatable silicone band is placed around the top portion of your stomach to create a small pouch with a very narrow opening to the rest of the stomach. The food first passes through the pouch before proceeding through the normal digestive cycle. The gastric band limits the amount of food that can enter the stomach at one time, and creates a more immediate feeling of fullness.To adjust the amount of food intake, your surgeon can adjust the gastric band by injecting a saline solution to expand or contract it. Since the process of digestion remains the same once food passes through the pouch, your body can continue the normal nutritional absorption.

The biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch is a combination of two surgeries. This surgery makes your stomach smaller and also bypasses part of your small intestine. Hence this surgery has a restrictive part and a malabsorptive part. The restrictive part uses a sleeve gastrectomy to make the stomach smaller .This surgery keeps the pyloric valve intact, unlike other surgeries that bypass it. Keeping the pyloric valve intact lowers your risk of getting certain ulcers, or a blocked or narrowed opening. The malabsorptive part of this surgery rearranges the small intestine to separate the flow of food from the flow of bile and pancreatic juices. This leads to absorption of fewer calories by your body from most of the foods. Further down the digestive tract, the divided paths are rejoined. Food and digestive juices begin to mix, and some absorption happens in the common tract as the food continues on its path toward the large intestine.