After an operation, the person usually can eat only a half to a whole cup of food without discomfort or nausea. Also, food has to be well chewed. For most people, the ability to eat a large amount of food at one time is lost, but some patients do return to eating modest amounts of food without feeling hungry.

 Restriction operations for obesity include gastric banding and vertical banded gastroplasty. Both operations serve only to restrict food intake. They do not interfere with the normal digestive process.  These surgeries are not as popular as they were years ago as the weight re-gain rate is high.  Risks include staple line disruption and GERD.
 
 

• Gastric banding. In this procedure, a band made of special material is placed around the stomach near its upper end, creating a small pouch and a narrow passage into the larger remainder of the stomach (figure 2). In the future, it may be possible to perform gastric banding with smaller incisions through a laparoscope, a flexible fiberoptic tube and light source through which some surgical instruments may be passed. Laparoscopic gastric banding has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.


• Vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG). This procedure is the most frequently used restrictive operation for weight control. As figure 3 illustrates, both a band and staples are used to create a small stomach pouch.

 A common risk of restrictive operations is vomiting caused by the small stomach being overly stretched by food particles that have not been chewed well. Other risks of VBG include erosion of the band, breakdown of the staple line, and, in a small number of cases, leakage of stomach juices into the abdomen. The latter requires an emergency operation. In a very small number of cases (less than 1 percent) infection or death from complications can occur.

 Surgeries which cause malabsorption and interfer with digestion

Gastric Bypass Operations
These operations combine creation of small stomach pouches to restrict food intake and construction of bypasses of the duodenum and other segments of the small intestine to cause malabsorption. These are the most common surgeries done today.  They are often called 'stomach stapling' by the surgeons because they include a stomach stapling however, they are much more invasive surgeries and also include an intestinal by-pass.  Be sure you know which surgery you are having!
 
 

• Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RGB). This operation (figure 4) is the most common gastric bypass procedure. First, a small stomach pouch is created by stapling or by vertical banding. This causes restriction in food intake. Next, a Y-shaped section of the small intestine is attached to the pouch to allow food to bypass the duodenum (the first segment of the small intestine) as well as the first portion of the jejunum (the second segment of the small intestine). This causes reduced calorie and nutrient absorption.


 
 
• Extensive gastric bypass (biliopancreatic diversion). In this more complicated gastric bypass operation (figure 5), portions of the stomach are removed. The small pouch that remains is connected directly to the final segment of the small intestine, thus completely bypassing both the duodenum and jejunum. Although this procedure successfully promotes weight loss, it is not widely used because of the high risk for nutritional deficiencies.  The Duodenal switch is a form of BPD however, 2 inches of the 10 inch duodenum is left which may help with nutritional deficiencies.

 The risks for pouch stretching, band erosion, breakdown of staple lines, and leakage of stomach contents into the abdomen are about the same for gastric bypass as for vertical banded gastroplasty. However, because gastric bypass operations cause food to skip the duodenum, where most iron and calcium are absorbed, risks for nutritional deficiencies are higher in these procedures. Anemia may result from malabsorption of vitamin B12 and iron in menstruating women, and decreased absorption of calcium may bring on osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease. Patients are required to take nutritional supplements that usually prevent these deficiencies.

 Gastric bypass operations also may cause "dumping syndrome," whereby stomach contents move too rapidly through the small intestine. Symptoms include nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, and, occasionally, diarrhea after eating, as well as the inability to eat sweets without becoming so weak and sweaty that the patient must lie down until the symptoms pass.

If food is not thoroughly chewed, it can get caught in the opening into the intestine (called the stoma). This causes intense pain until the food dissolves and passes. It also can cause continuous vomiting.  If the food does not dissolve, it will have to be surgically removed. This requires 1-3 days in the hospital.

 The more extensive the bypass operation, the greater is the risk for complications and nutritional deficiencies. Patients with extensive bypasses of the normal digestive process require not only close monitoring, but also life-long use of special foods and medications.
 
 

Explore Benefits and Risks

 Benefits

• Immediately following surgery, most patients lose weight rapidly and continue to do so until 18 to 24 months after the procedure. Although most patients then start to regain some of their lost weight, few regain it all.

 
• Surgery improves most obesity-related conditions. For example, in one study blood sugar levels of most obese patients with diabetes returned to normal after surgery. Nearly all patients whose blood sugar levels did not return to normal were older or had had diabetes for a long time.

• Ten to 20 percent of patients who have weight-loss operations require followup operations to correct complications. Abdominal hernias are the most common complications requiring followup surgery. Less common complications include breakdown of the staple line and stretched stomach outlets.

 
• More than one-third of obese patients who have gastric surgery develop gallstones. Gallstones are clumps of cholesterol and other matter that form in the gallbladder. During rapid or substantial weight loss a person's risk of developing gallstones is increased. Gallstones can be prevented with supplemental bile salts taken for the first 6 months after surgery.

 
• Nearly 30 percent of patients who have weight-loss surgery develop nutritional deficiencies such as anemia, osteoporosis, and metabolic bone disease. These deficiencies can be avoided if vitamin and mineral intakes are maintained.

 
• Women of childbearing age should avoid pregnancy until their weight becomes stable because rapid weight loss and nutritional deficiencies can harm a developing fetus.