Weight Loss Surgery Options

What Is Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery?

Weight loss surgery options have multiplied in number since the mid-1960's when doctors realized that altering the shape of the stomach and intestines surgically could be an effective treatment for morbidly obese persons. This article lists and describes the various weight loss surgery options. It is intended to give readers a basic and introductory of weight loss surgery options in easy-to-read and easy-to-understand, non-medical language and is not intended for medical professionals.

Weight loss surgery options are grouped into two general types, and they may be used separately or in combination.

Restrictive weight loss surgery reduces the size of the stomach in order to limit the amount of food the patient eats. This type of bariatric weight loss surgery is the least common type of stomach surgery for weight loss.

Malabsorptive weight loss surgery limits the amount of intestine that food passes through. The digestive tract therefore less of the food that is eaten. As a result, the body has fewer calories to store.

There are also a number of different types of procedures used for bariatric weight loss surgery.

Laparoscopic surgery This type of stomach surgery uses a tube with a telescopic lens and a video camera. The tube is inserted into the abdomen through a small incision, and the lens allows the surgeon to see what he or she is doing. Surgery is performed with special, minimally invasive instruments.

Open stomach surgery This is surgery that's done "the old fashioned way," by opening the abdomen with a large incision. This involves a longer recovery time than surgery that's done laparoscopically.

Weight loss surgery is further categorized by the manner in which the stomach and intestines are altered to accomplish the patient's weight loss goal. Here are quick descriptions of the most common types:

LAP-BAND® is actually a registered brand name for the Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band procedure. "Lap band" as it is more commonly known is a restrictive procedure in which an adjustable band is placed around the stomach. This reduces the size of the stomach. It also reduces the patient's appetite.

Vertical Banded Gastroplasty or VBG also creates a smaller stomach pouch. In VBG however, staples are used to close off a section of the stomach, and a band is placed to limit the amount of food that leaves the stomach pouch. The patient eats less, because there's less room in the stomach.

Biliopancreatic Diversion, or BPD, is a malabsorptive procedure. First, the surgeon creates a creates a smaller stomach pouch and then diverts digestive juices in the small intestine. The small intestine nearest the stomach is where most of the calories are normally absorbed by the body. In this procedure, the beginning of the small intestine is bypassed. It is reattached to a section of the intestine farther down the digestive tract.

There's a variation of this procedure known as a "Duodenal Switch." A larger stomach "sleeve" is put in place, leaving the beginning of the duodenum attached.

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass There are two important parts to the procedure, which is now the most popular type of weight loss stomach surgery performed in the U.S.

The stomach is stapled or banded to create a smaller pouch, restricting the amount of food it can hold. The pouch is attached to a section of the intestine. Part of the intestine, after this surgery, appears to be roughly Y-shaped. The patient loses weight because food bypasses the duodenum as well as part of the jejunum (middle section of the small intestine). See Roux en Y.

For additional information, click on weight loss surgery requirements.