About Bariatric Surgery

There are several procedures for the surgical management of obesity. At DHMC, we provide gastric bypass and adjustable gastric banding surgery. In the near future, we will offer the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for high risk patients.

Roux-En-Y gastric bypass is considered "the gold standard" of weight loss surgery, and is the most commonly performed surgery in the United States.  A small stomach pouch is created by using surgical stapling to divide the upper stomach, which creates a very small stomach in order to create a feeling of fullness after eating only a small amount of food. In addition, a short segment of the intestine is bypassed to help with additional weight loss. Gastric bypass surgery can be performed by two different methods, either via the laparoscopic or the open method.  Most surgeries are done via the laparoscopic method.

After gastric bypass surgery, food enters the esophagus when you eat and moves to a very small pouch created from the first part of the stomach. This pouch is about 30 cc in size or 1/8 of a cup. As a result, you feel very full when you eat even a small amount of food. However, if you eat too quickly or too fast, you might become nauseated and vomit.

Gastric bypass and gastric banding surgeries are not magic cures for obesity and should be used only as tools to help control obesity, along with a healthy diet and regular daily exercise. Lost weight can be quickly regained if you continue to overeat and not adhere to a healthy diet.

Gastric bypass is not a cosmetic procedure whereby fat is removed by liposuction (or by any other method) during the procedure. If you are interested in plastic surgery after weight loss surgery in order to remove excess fat and skin, we will refer you to the DHMC Cosmetic Surgery Center no sooner than 18 months after your surgery and after your weight loss has been stable for one year.

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