Panama Medical Vacations
A New Outlook with Gastric Bypass Surgery in Panama
Millions of individuals in the United States and around the world are overweight or obese (severely overweight). When weight increases to an extreme level, it is called morbid obesity. Obesity is associated with diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, some types of cancer, and other medical problems. Bariatrics is the field of medicine that specializes in treating obesity. Gastric bypass surgery is the term for one type of operation to help promote weight loss. Gastric bypass surgical procedures are only considered for people with severe obesity and not for individuals with mild weight problems.
The Procedure
In normal digestion, food passes through the stomach and enters the small intestine, where most of the nutrients and calories are absorbed. It then passes into the large intestine, and the remaining waste is eventually excreted. In a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the stomach is made smaller by creating a small pouch at the top of the stomach using surgical staples or a plastic band. The smaller stomach is connected directly to the middle portion of the small intestine, bypassing the rest of the stomach and the upper portion of the small intestine.
This procedure can be done by making a large incision in the abdomen or by making a small incision and using small instruments and a camera to guide the surgery.
After your surgery
This surgery usually involves a 4- to 6-day hospital stay (2 to 3 days for a laparoscopic approach). Most people can return to their normal activities within 3 to 5 weeks. The long term post-op care consists largely of lifestyle changes. The patient will find it only possible to eat a few bites of food and will need to eat more times each day to compensate for the few calories consumed each meal. Follow-up visits to the patient’s family physician will follow periodically for the next year to monitor the patient’s progress.
Risks
Risks common to all surgeries for weight loss include an infection in the incision, a leak from the stomach into the abdominal cavity or where the intestine is connected resulting in an infection called peritonitis, and a blood clot in the lung pulmonary embolism. About one-third of all people having surgery for obesity develop gallstones or a nutritional deficiency condition such as anemia or osteoporosis.