The expert’s opinion: The gastric bypass operation is the one we know best for the treatment of obesity, which has the longest history, about 25 years, and on which all the others are compared.
The gastric bypass is an excellent surgical technique that consists of a restrictive part, making a small stomach where little food can fit, which fits in a dessert plate and, in addition, a bypass of the small intestine is performed in such a way that between 40% and 45% of the intestine is defunctionalized.
The result is that I can eat little (that dessert plate that we were talking about) and, moreover, if I eat food with excessive fats and sweets, it causes a controlled malabsorption that would cause a soft stool that the patient perceives as annoying and reminds him/her not to eat that type of food, so the operation forces the patient to eat well, to take care of him/herself and, therefore, in the end it helps more than the other operations.
Gastric bypass patients have good weight loss and a good quality of life. They can eat all kinds of foods, even though they must stick to a healthy diet, and blood tests are necessary every 6 or 12 months, in the long run it is rare to be more than every 12 months, and take vitamin supplements for life. However, patients do not experience this as a scourge, nor is it detrimental to their health. Regular vitamin intake is just a dietary supplement.
This operation is indicated for patients with a body mass index or BMI greater than 45, also in patients who are big pickers and big candy eaters, with emotional problems with food, and would also be indicated in patients with diabetes and morbid obesity.
The operation must be performed by laparoscopic surgery and, in expert hands, is as safe as the rest of the surgical techniques.
We have an accumulated experience of more than 500 operated patients and we meet the quality requirements of the American Association of Bariatric Surgery which, for this operation, are a mortality of less than 0.35% and possible complications of less than 2%. Fortunately, we have not had any cases of mortality with this surgical technique.
In this operation we also use the “fast track” method, which allows for a hospital admission of only two days, without the need for an ICU, and a normal life can be achieved within 7 days of discharge.
Although this operation helps the patient more, the patient has to be aware of an active life, a healthy diet or nutrition and physical exercise.
You can find more detailed information about this technique on our website.
Thank you.