Gastric Bypass Surgery

Malabsorptive procedures reduce your body's ability to store calories by diverting food away from the parts of your digestive system that absorb calories. Largely malabsorptive procedures include biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) and biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD-DS).

All these procedures are commonly used and have been proven effective for reversing or minimizing weight-related health problems.

Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass is the most common bariatric surgery performed in the United States.¹ It offers a combination of both restrictive and malabsorptive procedures, which appears to be a very effective recipe for weight loss. Moreover, it is considered the gold standard surgical treatment. ¹

While gastric bypass has become fairly common, this elective surgery has serious risks. For example, potential early complications after gastric bypass can include bleeding, infection, leaks from the site where the intestines are sewn together, and blood clots in the legs that can progress to the lungs and heart.² Surgeons must have excellent visualization, dexterity and control to complete this technically challenging operation successfully.

Bariatric surgery may be performed through “open” approaches, which make large abdominal incisions in the traditional manner, by conventional laparoscopy or laparoscopically with robotic-assistance ( da Vinci ® Surgery). With the laparoscopic approach, long-shafted instruments are inserted through tiny incisions and guided by a small camera that sends images to a television monitor. Most bariatric surgery today is performed laparoscopically because it requires a smaller cut, creates less tissue damage, leads to earlier discharges from the hospital, and has fewer complications, especially postoperative hernias. ⁴

While conventional laparoscopy is the most widely used approach for gastric bypass today, not all patients are considered candidates for traditional laparoscopy. Surgeons may determine that patients who are extremely obese, who have had previous abdominal surgery, or have complicating medical problems require a traditional open approach. ³ The da Vinci® System has been proven to help surgeons overcome these challenges with improved ergonomics, instrumentation and visualization.^{4, 5}

Is surgery for you?

Bariatric surgery may be the next step for people who remain severely obese after trying nonsurgical approaches, especially if they have an obesity-related disease. Surgery to produce weight loss is a serious undertaking. Anyone thinking about undergoing this type of operation should understand what it involves. Answers to the following questions may help you decide whether weight-loss surgery is right for you.

Are you:

• Unlikely to lose weight or keep it off over the long-term with nonsurgical measures?
• Well informed about the surgical procedure and the effects of treatment?
• Determined to lose weight and improve your health?
• Aware of how your life may change after the operation (adjustment to the side effects of the operation, including the need to chew food well and inability to eat large meals)?
• Aware of the potential risk for serious complications, dietary restrictions, and occasional failures?
• Committed to lifelong healthy eating and physical activity habits, medical follow-up, and vitamin/mineral supplementation?

Remember: There are no guarantees for any method, including surgery, to produce and maintain weight loss. Success is possible only with maximum cooperation and commitment to behavioral change and medical follow-up—and you must maintain this cooperation and commitment for the rest of your life.

Learn More

If your doctor recommends surgery to reduce your weight, you may be a candidate for da Vinci Gastric® Bypass, potentially the most effective, and least invasive surgery for weight loss.

Read more about  da Vinci ® Gastric Bypass .