Obesity Surgery

Overview :

Obesity surgery is usually performed in a hospital by a surgeon who has experience with obesity surgery or at a center that specializes in the procedure. General anesthesia is used, and the operation takes 2-3 hours. The hospital stay lasts about a week.

Three procedures are currently used for obesity surgery:

• Gastric bypass surgery. Probably the most common type of obesity surgery, gastric bypass surgery has been performed in the United States for about 25 years. In this procedure, the volume of the stomach is reduced by four rows of stainless steel staples that separate the main body of the stomach from a small, newly created pouch. The pouch is attached at one end to the esophagus. At the other end is a very small opening into the small intestine. Food flows through this pouch, bypassing the main portion of the stomach and emptying slowly into the small intestine where it is absorbed.
• Vertical banding gastroplasty. In this procedure, an artificial pouch is created using staples in a different section of the stomach. Plastic mesh is sutured into part of the pouch to prevent it from dilating. In both surgeries the food enters the small intestine farther along that it would enter if exiting the stomach normally. This reduces the time available for absorption of nutrients. The procedure is normally done laparoscopically, meaning that the surgeon makes one or more small incisions in the abdomen and inserts the necessary tools and instruments through the tiny holes. He or she can view the patient's organs via an inserted camera that displays pictures on a monitor. This method makes for a faster and easier recovery than a large incision.
• Jejunoileal bypass. Now a rarely performed procedure, jejunoileal bypass involves shortening the small intestine. Because of the high occurance of serious complications involving chronic diarrhea and liver disease, it has largely been abandoned for the other, safer procedures
  
  

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