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The procedure known as bariatric gastric bypass is a surgical method for major and hopefully permanent weight loss. It is also a potential cure for Type II Diabetes and other health conditions related to morbid obesity. Statistics show that gastric bypass surgery can help people as much as 90 percent of their excess body weight.

The surgical procedure works by limiting food intake and suppressing appetite. If you have an obesity-related medical condition, you may be able to improve your health by undergoing bariatric gastric bypass surgery.

The accumulation of large amounts of excess fatty tissue – known as morbid obesity – is sometimes treated with gastric bypass. A bariatric gastric bypass surgeon begins by dividing the stomach into a smaller upper pouch and much bigger, lower (sometimes called “remnant”) pouch and then changes the arrangement of the small intestine to allow both of the pouches to remain connected to the stomach.

Gastric bypass surgery helps you lose weight by changing how your stomach and small intestine digest the food you eat. After the surgery, your stomach will be smaller. You will feel full even with less food. Also, the food you eat will no longer go into some parts of your stomach nor into the small intestine that breaks down food. Therefore, your body will not absorb all the calories from the food you consume.

Gastric bypass can be done in two ways. The first way is for your surgeon to make a large incision in your belly. Your surgeon will then reach inside and perform  the bypass by directly moving around your stomach, small intestine, and other organs.

The second way to do bariatric gastric bypass is to use a tiny camera, or laparoscope. This is called laparoscopic bariatric surgery. First, the surgeon will make several small incisions in your belly. Then he or she will pass the laparoscope through one of these incisions.

The camera will be connected to a video monitor in the operating room, and your bariatric surgeon will look at the monitor to see inside your belly. Using thin surgical instruments, the doctor will perform your bypass.

There are two basic steps involved in both kinds of gastric bypass:

Step one reduces your stomach size. Your bariatric doctor will use staples to separate your stomach into a small upper section and a larger bottom section. The top section of the stomach is called the “pouch” and this is where the food you eat goes. This pouch is about the size of a golf ball. It holds only about 1 ounce of food.

The second step is the bypass itself. Your gastric surgeon will connect the jejunum, which is a part of your small intestine, to a small hole in your pouch. The jejunum is located farther down from where the stomach normally attaches to the small intestine. Food consumed will now move from the pouch into this new opening into the small intestine.

When food travels this way, it bypasses the lower part of your stomach and the first section of the small intestine. As a result, your body will now absorb fewer calories. Gastric bypass surgery usually takes about 4 hours.

Be aware that this surgery can increase the risk of gallstones. Your bariatric doctor may recommend that you have surgery to remove your gallbladder before your gastric bypass surgery.

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