Is gastric bypass safe? Know gastric bypass complications and risks

If you are looking for a solution for significant weight loss, your provider at Goshen Physicians Center for Weight Reduction may recommend gastric bypass, or Roux-en-Y. This bariatric surgery alters the normal digestive process by reducing the size of the stomach and diverting food past the first part of the small intestine where the body absorbs most calories.

Though a complex procedure, gastric bypass is effective. Patients throughout the U.S. typically lose and keep off more than 50 percent excess weight after this surgery.

Once you’re a part of our medically managed weight loss program, you can be considered as a candidate for gastric bypass. Our integrated team can explain gastric bypass side effects, complications and risks and help determine if this procedure is right for you.

Benefits of gastric bypass at Goshen Physicians Center for Weight Reduction

Gastric bypass has many benefits that generally outweigh the risks. Weight loss after gastric bypass surgery often resolves or improves obesity-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. It also causes beneficial changes in gut hormones when it reroutes digestion. This helps you feel more satisfied after eating and stay satisfied longer.

Our Center for Weight Reduction offers gastric bypass as a laparoscopic procedure, which means it involves several small incisions instead of one larger incision. This method has fewer short-term risks than open surgery, as well as less pain and a shorter recovery period.

Roux-en-Y complications

Like all surgeries, gastric bypass comes with potential risks and complications, including:

• Dumping syndrome, which occurs when undigested food moves too quickly into the small intestine
• Internal hernias, in which the small intestine becomes trapped and blocked
• Leakage of digestive juices and intestinal contents at the surgical connections
• Stomal stenosis, which is a tightening and narrowing of the opening between the stomach and small intestine
• Peritonitis, or the inflammation and infections of the membrane lining the abdomen
• Severe malnutrition due to malabsorption

Partnering with our team and committing to weight loss can help prevent gastric bypass side effects. We want to support your complete well-being as you take steps toward a healthier life.

Understanding the risks of revision surgery

Revision surgery is performed to modify or change a prior bariatric surgery. The main reasons for revision surgery are:

• Complications from the original procedure
• Failure to lose weight
• Regaining weight after initial weight loss
• Intolerable side effects, such as malnutrition

Experienced bariatric surgeons at Goshen Physicians Center for Weight Reduction offer several types of revision surgery, including gastric bypass revision and sleeve gastrectomy revision.

In most cases, revision surgery results in a significant decrease in body mass index (BMI) and resolves nutritional complications. You can receive revision surgery at the Center for Weight Reduction whether or not your original surgery was performed here. Our integrated care team can determine if you’re a candidate and help you understand revision surgery risks and complications.

Call (574) 537-8326 for more information or click here to order a free resource packet.

Minimizing revision surgery risks with laparoscopic techniques

Our bariatric surgeons perform revision surgery laparoscopically whenever possible. Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive technique that involves several small incisions. If you have extensive scarring from your prior surgery, you may need to have open surgery with a larger incision instead.

Laparoscopic revision surgery generally has fewer short-term risks than traditional open surgery. Revision surgery risks, such as anesthetic reactions, bleeding, blood clots and infection, are usually higher than they were with the original surgery. These risks increase if you have extensive scarring from the original procedure. It’s possible that we will only recommend revision surgery when no other strategy has been successful.

We can help

At the Center for Weight Reduction, our board certified bariatric surgeons and team members care about your complete well-being, not just your weight. We offer physical and emotional support before and after revision surgery. If revisions are due to weight gain, we can help you get back on track and achieve long-term success.