About Weight Loss Surgery

There are several types of bariatric surgery: Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass, Lap-Band, and Vertical Banded Gastroplasty. The surgery I am hoping to have is:

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RGB) - is the most commonly performed gastric bypass procedure, and the second most frequently performed surgery for obesity after VBG. RGB involves a stomach pouch for food intake restriction. A direct connection, which is Y-shaped, is made from the ileum or jejunum to the stomach pouch for malabsorption. The longer the segment of small intestine bypassed, the greater the malabsorption component and the greater the weight loss. Gastric bypass with an extensive segment of small bowel bypassed is termed “Long Limb Gastric Bypass.”¹

The Vertical Banded Gastroplasty has been abandoned by most U.S. surgeons due to its ineffectiveness, and high failure rate.

Weight loss surgery is not plastic or cosmetic surgery. Surgical procedures for weight loss can involve permanent changes in the patient's stomach and other gastrointestinal structures. Gastric bypass surgery is not intended to be reversible. Deciding to have weight loss surgery is a serious decision and shouldn't be made lightly.

As with any surgical procedure, there are real risks. For this reason, the operation is only offered to those patients who meet the criteria of severe excess weight (morbid obesity), and when the medical risk of continued obesity outweighs the risk of the surgery itself. Bariatric surgery should only be undertaken after the patient has exhausted all other reasonable means of obtaining and maintaining weight loss, and are thoroughly convinced that they have tried everything possible to lose the excess weight.

The American Society for Bariatric Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, and the National Institutes of Health have developed patient selection guidelines.

Here are the criteria my surgeon considers when evaluating patients to determine who should be accepted for this type of surgery:

1.	You are approximately 100 pounds or more above ideal body weight as described in life insurance height/weight charts, and/or have a BMI or 35 or greater with comorbidities, OR have a BMI of 40 or greater with or without comorbidites.
2.	You have failed at previous attempts to achieve lasting weight loss.
3.	You have physical problems and/or diseases related to obesity including, but not limited to: high blood pressure, elevated blood fats, heart problems, breathing problems, chronic back pain, or degenerative arthritis.
4.	You are able and willing to make permanent lifestyle changes, and can comply with the required patient behaviors both preoperatively and postoperatively.