Surgical Weight Loss Options

When you eat or drink before surgery, food travels down your esophagus into your stomach, which can stretch to about the size of a football. From there, it passes into the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum. Many vitamins and minerals, as well as some carbohydrates are absorbed in the duodenum. Next, food moves into the rest of the small intestine where most of the absorption takes place before moving to the colon (large intestine) before being excreted.

Adjustable Gastric Banding

The Adjustable Gastric Band procedure is minimally invasive and does not involve altering the stomach or intestines. This procedure uses a band to close off a portion of the stomach to create a small pouch. The sectioned-off stomach is now much smaller and restricts overeating, therefore allowing patients to lose excess weight quickly. The band is adjusted over time to control how fast the stomach can empty.

Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery

In this procedure, 80 percent of the stomach is removed laparoscopically so that the stomach takes the shape of a sleeve, approximately the size of a banana. There's no rerouting of the intestines, therefore there is no malabsorption. It is a purely restrictive operation like the band, but generally produces weight loss more like that of a gastric bypass surgery because the stomach can only hold about six ounces of food. Additionally, the portion of the stomach that is remove is what produces the hunger hormone. Without that hunger hormone appetite is reduced.

Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass surgery creates a small, 1-ounce pouch at the top of the stomach, completely separate from the remaining stomach. The pouch can only stretch to the size of a small lemon. The small pouch releases food slowly into your digestive system, resulting in the sensation of fullness with very little food intake. The new opening to your small intestine from your stomach is called a stoma. The next step in the surgery is to divide an then reattach the small intestine. Bypassing part of the intestine creates malabsorption, which further reduces calories and promotes weight loss.

Duodenal Switch Surgery & SADI-S Surgery

The Duodenal Switch (DS) Surgery and SADI-S Surgery provides greater weight loss for those that have a BMI greater than 50 or for those who have poor blood glucose control. These surgeries are often a secondary procedure after insufficient weight loss from a sleeve gastrectomy surgery.