Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Weight Loss Surgery
The gold standard in weight loss surgery
Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass is the most frequently performed bariatric procedure at Ellis Medicine’s Bariatric Care Center, and is considered to be the gold standard in weight loss surgery.
The Roux-en-Y surgery closes off most of the stomach, through stapling, to decrease the amount of food a patient can eat, and also rearranges the small intestine to reduce the amount of calories that a patient's body can absorb. It can be performed as an open surgery or laparoscopic procedure.
How bariatric surgery works
In order to understand how bariatric surgery works, it is important to understand how the body's gastrointestinal tract works. After you swallow food it enters the stomach, which acts as a holding tank for food. From the stomach, small amounts of food are released into the digestive tract. Bile from the liver and enzymes from the pancreas enter the duodenum (first part of the small bowel) and aid in the digestion and absorption of the food. Most absorption of food takes place in the duodenum.
There a several different types of bariatric operations, but most surgeries entail two main components:
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Reducing the volume of the stomach by removing or bypassing a portion of the stomach. This means that the stomach can only hold a limited amount of food before a person feels full.
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Directing bile and pancreatic enzymes away from the food, so that digestion and absorption of food is delayed - takes place further down in the jejunum (small bowel)
About Open and Laparoscopic Procedures
Both open and laparoscopic procedures follow the same principles and result in similar excess weight loss in patients. Open bariatric surgery is performed through one incision that is made from just below the patient's breastbone to above the navel. During laparoscopic surgery, small incisions are made to a patient's abdomen and the surgeon performs the operation with the aid of a small video camera that is attached to a laparoscope and inserted into one of the incisions. Laparoscopic surgery generally takes less time to perform than open surgery and patients recovery times are shorter than with open surgery.
For more information about the types of procedures performed at Ellis’ Bariatric Care Center, please call 518.243.1313.
Seminars & Support
We offer free orientation seminars to help you get acquainted with this life changing journey. We also offer regular support groups to ensure you have the continued guidance and emotional support you need to be successful. Learn more...
*Note: Illustrations on this page provided courtesy of Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. - a Johnson and Johnson Company.