Bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery is for the morbidly obsese

Bariatric surgery is an alternative choice for severely obese people who have unsuccessfully tried several conventional weight loss methods. It is, in fact, a treatment of last resort to lose weight. This surgery works by restricting the food intake or hampering the normal digestive process.

Why does it work?

The growing popularity of bariatric surgery as a solution for severe or morbid obesity is occurring because it works where other treatment options and lifestyle adjustments have not been successful.  It is an extreme measure that requires individuals to alter the behavioral patterns:

It forces you to eat less

Bariatric surgery alters your body and physically restricts the amount of food you can eat and digest. 

It forces your body to absorb less

While this works well to reduce the amount of calories that are absorbed from food as it passes through your body, it also reduces the ability to absorb important nutrients.  Diet modifications are a requirement after bariatric surgery to ensure your body continues to have adequate access to life-sustaining vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

Bariatric surgery alters your appetite behaviors

After bariatric surgery you will be required to change your diet significantly as there are certain foods that your body will physically have a tough time digesting.  If these foods are ingested, you may experience "dumping syndrome" which causes nausea, vomiting, bloating, diarrhea, and shortness of breath.  In essence, after surgery your body has a built in control mechanism that physically makes ingesting the wrong foods uncomfortable, and over time this will help change your eating behaviors. 

Types of Bariatric Surgery

The gastric surgeries are of the following two types.

Restrictive surgery

The restrictive surgeries serve to restrict the intake of food without altering the digestive process. These surgeries create a small pouch (mini-stomach) in the upper-part of stomach with a narrow passage (to impede transit of food) into the rest of the portion of the stomach. As an outcome, the patient experiences a sensation of fullness after taking a small quantity of food so he eats less and consumes fewer calories. Two main restrictive surgeries include gastric banding and vertical banded gastroplasty.

Malabsorptive surgeries

The malabsorptive surgeries, as the name suggests, aim at hampering the nutrients absorbs. In this more complicated surgery, the surgeon connects the stomach directly to jejunum (the small intestine’s middle part) bypassing the duodenum and some of jejunum. Therefore, after this surgery the surface of the digestive tract involved in nutrients absorbing and calories reduces, which brings about the weight loss. Two main malabsorptive surgeries are roux-en-Y gastric bypass and biliopancreatic diversion.