Gastric Bypass (Roux-en-Y)

Gastric bypass surgery reduces the size of your stomach and reroutes food passing through your intestine. You’ll feel full after eating less food, and the food you eat won’t be absorbed as well in your intestine. You can typically lose 70 to 80 percent of excess weight in the first year.

During gastric bypass surgery at Miami Valley Hospital, your surgeon staples off a smaller pouch of your stomach, and part of your intestine is routed from this pouch. The pouch holds less food, giving you a feeling of fullness.

These changes to your digestion are permanent, with advantages and disadvantages: You’ll lose weight, but you will also need to commit lifelong to taking vitamin supplements and carefully monitoring how much protein you eat.

Gastric bypass (also known as “Roux-en-Y” or “the bypass”) has the longest proven track record of weight loss surgeries and has more long-term studies proving its effectiveness. It is also a highly effective treatment for diabetes in obese individuals.  

Additional facts about gastric bypass surgery:

  • The procedure is generally performed with laparoscopy, using small incisions rather than one large incision. It lasts one-and-a-half to two hours and requires a hospital stay of two days.
  • Dietitians will provide ongoing education on your dietary regimen before and after surgery.
  • It typically results in the largest amount of weight loss.
  • It has a dramatic impact on weight-related health problems.
  • The surgery has excellent long-term results.
  • You will need to take vitamin and mineral supplements to ensure adequate nutrition and optimal health.  

Gastric bypass is a combination of gastric restrictive and malabsorptive procedures (reduces food absorption in the digestive tract).

Procedure Advantages and Disadvantages

Gastric bypass surgery causes significant permanent changes to your digestion. These changes create advantages for losing weight but also have some disadvantages:

Advantages

  • Incentive to control high-fat and high-sugar foods to avoid dumping syndrome
  • The procedure is reversible in some cases
  • It may cure, reduce, or eliminate acid reflux 

Disadvantages

  • Overeating and under-chewing can cause vomiting.
  • The procedure has a longer recovery than other weight loss surgeries.
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