Surgeries We Perform
Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass
With the Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass (RNY) procedure a portion of the stomach is sectioned off, creating a small pouch for reduced food intake. This small pouch usually will hold only a small amount of food, causing the feeling of fullness after just a few bites. The size of the pouch may be somewhat different with each patient. A portion of small intestine is then attached to the new “pouch.” This allows food to pass through the digestive system while reducing the overall amount of food intake at any one time. The larger “bypassed” section of small bowel remains connected to the remaining stomach and the digestive juices flow from and through it as usual. These two sections of small bowel are connected downstream in a “Y” configuration where the food and the juices come together for digestion.
Common side effects that may occur after gastric bypass surgery are: vomiting when you eat too much and the pouch is over-filled, and; “dumping,” a condition that can cause the patient to have nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains, fainting, tremors and in severe cases diarrhea. This is caused by eating high carbohydrates and fatty foods.
This procedure has both food-restrictive and malabsorption properties, so it’s important to make certain nutritional needs are met with a high protein diet and appropriate dietary supplements to maintain overall health.
Click here for an Interactive Illustration of the Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass Procedure
LAP-BAND
The Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding System (LAP-BAND) is a minimally invasive surgery that involves application of a prosthesis around the stomach, creating a small gastric pouch, to restrict or narrow the opening to the rest of the stomach.
LAP-BAND advantages include:
- Reduced surgical trauma and pain
- Less invasive to the abdominal wall (requires small incisions)
- Less invasive to the stomach (no cutting or stapling of the stomach is needed)
- Shorter hospitalization than standard surgery (usually an outpatient procedure)
- Anatomy and function of the stomach and small bowel remains intact (does not bypass portions of the stomach or small intestines)
- Individual patient needs are met by inflation or deflation of the adjustable band
- Fully reversible by simply removing the band
How it works:
The LAP-BAND is placed near the uppermost portion of the stomach, close to the area where the esophagus connects to the stomach. This inflatable ring (LAP-BAND) creates a small, gastric pouch (stomach) and controls the flow of solid food from this smaller pouch to the rest of the stomach and into the digestive tract. This pouch should cause the patient to feel comfortably full with only a small amount of solid food. And because of the slow passage of solid food from this small pouch into the rest of the stomach, the patient continues to feel full for several hours, reducing the urge to eat between meals.