What is a Gastric Bypass Surgery?
Gastric bypass is a bariatric surgery that allows you to lose weight. Regardless of the used techniques, this intervention intends to shorten the size of the stomach and reduce the length of the path that food makes in the intestine in such a way as to:
- Achieve an early feeling of satiety.
- Reduce the absorption of calories.
It is usually done according to the so-called Roux-en-Y technique, which involves the creation of a small pocket at the level of the stomach that is isolated from the rest of the organs. Therefore, the amount of food that can be ingested is drastically reduced and limited by the small volume of the pocket.
Then, the pouch is connected to the lower part of the small intestine so that the portion of the intestine normally receives the food at the exit from the stomach.
Since foods bypass the lower part of the stomach and the upper part of the small intestine (duodenum), the calories absorbed are significantly reduced, while the narrow passage guarantees a slow transit that allows a prolonged sense of satiety.
There are numerous data that show how bariatric surgery and in particular gastric bypass surgery, have advantages in terms of:
Reduction in global mortality by 29%: mortality from cancer is reduced by 60% and from diabetes by 90%.
Reduction of morbidity, that is, the consequences that obesity can cause, in particular a reduction of blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and reflux symptoms.
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When is Gastric Bypass Surgery Indicated?
Bariatric surgery is not the first choice in all obese or overweight patients, it is suggested only when all non-surgical attempts made to lose weight such as diet, behavioral therapy, and drugs have failed.
According to the best doctors in Turkey and Istanbul, surgery is indicated:
- For obese patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 40 for whom no medical and dietary treatments have been able to lead to a weight loss.
- For patients with BMI between 35 and 40 with serious medical conditions such as sleep apnea syndrome, diabetes, and joint pain.
Advantages of this Bariatric Intervention
Gastric bypass surgery has several advantages over other techniques such as gastric balloon and sleeve gastrectomy:
Consistent and long-lasting weight loss: you will lose about 50-75% of your body weight in the first year, although after 1-2 years the loss will tend to slow down.
Diseases such as diabetes and hypercholesterolemia improve rapidly.
What are the Complications?
The complications of gastric bypass surgery consist of:
- The disintegration of the sutures on the stomach or the intestine with the formation of gastric or intestinal fistula and peritonitis that can be treated with medical therapies or require a new surgical procedure.
- Internal hernias: after such an operation, the strangulation of a section of intestines inside the abdomen can occur, with consequent difficulty in transit. As a result, this complication may require a new surgery.
- Anastomotic ulcers: they are formed near the anastomosis between stomach and intestine and they can lead to abdominal pain, feeding difficulties and, rarely, hematemesis. These complications are usually resolved with pharmacological therapies, but in some cases may require hospitalization.
- Stenosis and obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in difficulty in feeding, nausea, and vomiting. Stenosis can generally be resolved by endoscopic dilation but may sometimes require surgery.
- Nutritional deficiencies are more frequent but they are usually corrected by replacement therapy and careful control of nutrition.
What are the Costs in Turkey and Istanbul?
We close our article by mentioning the costs that should be borne. The cost of gastric bypass surgery in Turkey and Istanbul basically depends on the surgeon who will be in charge of performing this kind of intervention. Moreover, quality is a criterion that should be kept in the utmost consideration as this process cannot be considered simple.
