Gastric Bypass Surgery

WHAT ARE THE COMPLICATIONS AND RISKS?

As with any surgical procedure, there are potential risks and complications associated with the gastric bypass procedure. These risks and complications are rare and all measures are taken to prevent them from occurring.

The most known complications include anastomotic leakage, bleeding and embolism. These complications are more likely to occur during the first 15 days after surgery.

Please contact your doctor immediately after becoming aware of the first signs of such complications as early detection may decrease treatment duration and may have a positive impact on treatment outcomes.

Staple line leakages are the most serious complications of this procedure. Signs and symptoms of a leakage include elevated body temperature, severe abdominal pain, a high pulse rate, chills and fatigue.

A timely and successful intervention of your doctor is the key to the treatment of a potential leakage. The detection and treatment of a leakage is quite easy for an experienced bariatric surgeon. However, such complications will prolong the healing process.
Another risk is the risk for embolism. Any surgical procedure is associated with a risk for embolism; however, this risk for embolism is higher in bariatric surgery procedures in association with excess weight.

An injectable blood thinner is started on the day of surgery and patients wear compression stockings (stockings for varicose veins) to reduce the risk for embolism. Patients have to wear compression stockings and receive blood thinner injections at home for an additional 10 days after their discharge from the hospital.

Bleeding is the most common complication of the procedure. Drain monitoring facilitates the observation of a potential bleeding. The signs and symptoms of bleeding include fatigue, dizziness and low blood pressure. The treatment of bleeding consists of blood transfusions according to the amount of the bleeding and this complication can be easily overcome.

In addition to these complications, vitamin and mineral deficiencies may occur as a result of inadequate nutrition and absorption. Patients should undergo blood test regularly after the surgery to check if such deficiencies occur and should receive medications and supplements prescribed by their doctor.

Rapid gastric emptying, also called ‘Dumping Syndrome’ may occur as a result of very rapid passage of food, particularly sugar into the small intestines.

Symptoms of dumping syndrome appear 10 to 30 minutes after the food intake and include abdominal pain, cramps, and diarrhea. Dumping Syndrome may be avoided by eating smaller meals and limiting high-sugar food.

Gastric bypass mortality and risk

As with all operations, in obesity surgery, where stomach and bowel operations are performed, intra-abdominal inflammation may occur due to damage in the operation, inability to heal the sutures adequately. This condition is also known as leakage after tube stomach surgery. With early diagnosis and treatment of intra-abdominal inflammation, this process can be treated without harming the patient. In this case, intra-abdominal inflammation is not fatal if you reach your doctor easily and are under supervision. Gastric bypass surgery is a full-time job and has technical differences from other gastric surgeries. It is important to note when choosing Gastric bypass doctors, whether their team has dietitians and a psychologist who will take care of your post-bariatric surgery psychology. Hospitals undergoing surgery are fully equipped and their teams are sufficiently experienced in this regard should be asked. In revision procedures after initial bariatric surgery, fistula rates can rise up to 20%. Critical areas for leakage are the uppermost point (89%) of the stapler line located in the esophagus-stomach Junction and the connections between successive cartridges. Postoperative leaks are classified as acute, late, very late and chronic.

How many pounds can be lost with gastric bypass?

Gastric bypass surgery is one of the surgeries that lose weight in the most and best way out of all Obesity Surgery. A person who has undergone this operation begins to lose weight at a certain level the day after the operation, and continues to increase in the following days. After gastric bypass surgery, it is expected that excess weight will be lost by about 75-80 percent over a 1.5-year period. But it should be noted that since individuals ‘ eating habits have recovered over this period of about 1.5-2 years, there may be a reuptake of about 10-15 percent of the given weight.

The capacity of the stomach to receive nutrients and the length of the intestines are very effective on the amount of calories taken into the body. Gastric bypass operations are quite serious operations. They are only applied to obesity patients. Even before application, methods such as stomach balloon can be used. The main thing that is done in surgery is to divide the stomach into two parts, small and large; the large part is removed from use. The second intervention is to divide the small intestine into two parts; part of it is removed from use. The operation is also completed by connecting regions outside the decommissioned areas. Gastric bypass surgery has a smaller stomach capacity. In addition, the absorption process after the stomach is also shortened. In other words, the amount of nutrients taken into the body from the beginning is reduced and the time in the digestive part is shortened. In this way, only two-fifths of the total calories that a person consumes before surgery are taken. In the long run, serious amounts of weight are lost. A person can’t eat even if they want to, because there’s no room in their stomach. Even if there is room, he can’t fully digest it because his intestines are shortened. The effect of gastric bypass surgery on weight loss is achieved by this method.