Gastric bypass surgery is one of the surgical techniques used in bariatric surgery practices and aims to lose weight to the patient.
In the surgery, a small pouch is first created in the upper part of the stomach, then the small intestine is divided at the initial sixtieth-hundredth cm level in order to disable it for food passage, from this level the connection to the stomach pouch is made. A second connection is made between the small intestine approximately 100-150 cm below the first connection and the lower end of the previously divided small intestine, allowing bile fluid and pancreatic enzymes to flow (RNY Gastric Bypass). Sometimes, after a pouch is created in the stomach, the small intestine can be connected to this stomach pouch with a single connection from about 2 meters ahead (gastric bypass with one anastomosis).
Bypass surgeries are both restrictive (enable to eat less) and malabsorptive (enable less benefit from food by reducing absorption) techniques. Bypass surgeries are primarily preferred in the presence of obesity and co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, reflux, but there is no harm in applying them even if these conditions are not present. In these surgeries, vitamin and mineral deficiencies are more common, since a part of the small intestine is disabled. It may be necessary to take supplements such as multivitamins, iron and B12 after the surgery.
Leaks and bleeding are undesirable complications that occur in these surgeries as well. In addition, if the length of the disabled small intestines is not calculated well, it is possible to encounter chronic problems such as diarrhea.
