What is a Gastric Bypass?

A Gastric Bypass (also called Roux-en-Y) involves stapling your stomach to create a smaller stomach ‘pouch’ and then bypassing the rest of your stomach and part of your bowel. It works by making you feel full sooner so that you eat less, and by preventing some of the calories and nutrients in your food from being absorbed. Most importantly, the rerouting of the food stream produces changes in gut hormones that promote satiety, suppress hunger, and reverse one of the primary mechanisms by which obesity induces type 2 diabetes.

Is a Gastric Bypass suitable for me?

If your BMI score is over 40, surgery may help you to achieve long-term weight loss. Surgery may also help if you have a BMI over 35 and have other medical problems such as Type-2 diabetes or high blood pressure. A medical assessment will be performed before deciding if this surgery is suitable for you.

What does the operation involve?

There are two components to the procedure. First, a small stomach pouch, approximately 30-50mls in volume is created by dividing the top of the stomach from the remainder of the stomach.

Next, a portion of the small intestine is divided, and then connected to the newly created small stomach pouch. The procedure is completed by connecting the small intestine to the small intestine further down so that the stomach acids and digestive enzymes from the bypassed stomach and first portion of small intestine will eventually mix with the food.

What’s the difference between a Gastric Bypass and Gastric Sleeve?

Gastric bypass and gastric sleeve surgery are two of the most common weight loss surgery procedures in Sydney and Australia.

Gastric bypass surgery involves creating a small pouch at the top of the stomach which connects directly to the small intestine thus “bypassing” the stomach. Conversely, gastric sleeve surgery (also known as a sleeve gastrectomy) involves removing a large portion of the patient’s stomach which reduces the amount of food that can be eaten.

The main difference between the two is that gastric bypass surgery involves bypassing the digestive system, while gastric sleeve surgery involves removing a portion of the patient’s stomach. Both surgeries are highly effective and can help a patient to lose a significant amount of weight.

Should I get a Gastric Sleeve or Gastric Bypass surgery?

Before moving forward with any weight loss surgery procedure, Dr. Magdy will consider overall health status and consider factors such as body mass index (BMI), history of weight loss attempts, and desired weight loss outcomes. Based on individual, unique circumstances, Dr. Magdy will determine the potential risks and benefits of each procedure before advising on options so that patients can make an informed decision.

Do you feel “full” faster after Gastric Bypass Surgery?

After surgery, patients can expect to feel “full” after eating faster than normal and to retain this feeling for a longer period of time. Surgery limits the amount of food that the stomach can hold which means that patients will not need to eat as much to feel satisfied.  As a result or feeling “full” faster and eating less, patients are able to sustain long-term weight loss and improve their overall health.

How does the Gastric Bypass work?

The gastric bypass works by several mechanisms. First, the newly created stomach pouch is considerably smaller and facilitates significantly smaller meals, which translates into less calories consumed. Additionally, because there is less digestion of food by the smaller stomach pouch, and there is a segment of small intestine that would normally absorb calories as well as nutrients that no longer has food going through it, there is hypoabsorption of calories and nutrients.

Most importantly, the rerouting of the food stream produces changes in gut hormones that promote satiety, suppress hunger, and reverse one of the primary mechanisms by which obesity induces type-2 diabetes.

How soon will I recover?

You should be able to go home in 2-3 days time. You will be able to take only liquids for a few weeks, progressing to soft food and then, after about four to six weeks, to solid food.

You should be able to return to work after two to four weeks, depending on how much surgery you need and your type of work.

Regular exercise should help you to return to normal activities as soon as possible.

Gastric Bypass Sydney – benefits

— Produces significant long-term weight loss 50 to 70% excess weight loss.
— Restricts the amount of food that can be consumed.
— May lead to conditions that increase energy expenditure.
— Produces favourable changes in gut hormones that reduce appetite and enhance satiety.
— Typical maintenance of >50% excess weight loss.
— The gastric bypass was traditionally considered the “gold standard” procedure. The long and short-term outcomes have been studied in great detail.

What complication can happen?

— Technically a more complex operation than the Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy and potentially could result in greater complication rates.
— Can lead to long-term vitamin/mineral deficiencies particularly deficits in vitamin B12, iron, calcium, and folate.
— Risks of dumping, stomal ulcers, and internal hernia. Also, higher incidence of chronic abdominal pain than in other bariatric procedures.
— Requires adherence to dietary recommendations, life-long vitamin/mineral supplementation, and follow-up compliance.

How effective is Gastric Bypass Surgery?

Gastric bypass surgery is one of the most effective procedures for promoting significant weight loss in obese and overweight patients. In addition to the lifestyle benefits of weight loss, gastric bypass surgery also promotes better overall health and can assist with many obesity-related health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

Like all weight loss surgery procedures performed by Dr. Magdy, individual circumstances will be carefully assessed so that prospective patients can make the most informed decision.