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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffWeight-loss (bariatric) surgeries change your digestive system, often limiting the amount of food you can eat. These surgeries help you lose weight and can lower your risk of medical problems associated with obesity.
Gastric bypass is the most frequently performed bariatric surgery in the United States. Many surgeons prefer gastric bypass surgery because it generally has fewer complications than other weight-loss surgeries. Gastric bypass surgery can provide long-term, consistent weight loss if you exercise and eat a healthy diet.
Gastric bypass isn't for everyone, however. It's a major procedure that has risks and side effects and requires permanent changes in your lifestyle. Before deciding to have gastric bypass surgery, it's important to understand what's involved and what lifestyle changes you must make. In large part, the success of the surgery is up to you.
- American Gastroenterological Association. American Gastroenterological Association medical position statement on obesity. Gastroenterology. 2002;123:879.
- Bariatric surgery for severe obesity. National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/PDFs/gasurg12.04bw.pdf. Accessed Aug. 10, 2009.
- Mun EC, et al. Surgical management of severe obesity. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 10, 2009.
- Angrisiani L, et al. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding versus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: 5-year results of a prospective randomized trial. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2007;3:127.
- Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS) Consortium. Perioperative safety in the longitudinal assessment of bariatric surgery. New England Journal of Medicine. 2009;361:445.
- Suter M, et al. Results of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in morbidly obese vs superobese patients: Similar body weight loss, correction of comorbidities, and improvement of quality of life. Archives of Surgery. 2009;144:312.
- Cottam D, et al. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as an initial weight-loss procedure for high-risk patients with morbid obesity. Surgical Endoscopy. 2006;20:859.
- Mun EC, et al. Complications of bariatric surgery. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 10, 2009.
