PreOp Bariatric Gastric Bypass Laparoscopic Surgery

2009-04-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

Your doctor has recommended that you undergo laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. But what exactly does that mean?

Gastric Bypass is a surgical procedure used to help a patient lose weight.
It is usually recommended to help those who are morbidly obese - meaning that their weight problem has become a serious health risk.

Most severely overweight patients overeat. Food enters the body through the mouth, travels down the esophagus where it collects in the stomach.
From there, digested food passes into the small intestine. Nutrients taken from the food pass from the small intestine into the bloodstream.

Waste travels to the colon and leaves the body through the anus.

The amount of food that a person eats is partly controlled by appetite. The stomach plays an important role in controlling appetite. When the stomach is empty, a person feels the urge to eat. When the stomach is full, that urge goes away.

Gastric bypass dramatically reduces the size of the stomach. Gastric Bypass also shortens the small intestine so that the body absorbs less of the food eaten.

With less food entering the body, fat stores begin to be used. The patient loses weight.

So make sure that you ask your doctor to carefully explain the reasons behind this recommendation.