Types of Bariatric Surgery

There are two types of bariatric surgery the Gastric Bypass and the Gastric Banding. There are variations to both of them but basically you have a bypass and some kind of banding. Gastric bypass surgery makes the stomach smaller and allows food to bypass part of the small intestine.The most common gastric bypass surgery is a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
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 (colon), 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 (jejunum), bypassing the rest of the stomach and the upper portion of the small intestine (duodenum).
This procedure can be done by making a large incision in the abdomen (an open procedure) or by making a small incision and using small instruments and a camera to guide the surgery.


Gastric Banding involves the laparoscopic placement of a hollow silastic band around the upper part of the stomach. This band divides the stomach into a small upper pouch above the band and a larger pouch below the band. This small gastric pouch limits the amount of food that a patient can eat at any one time, and will result in a feeling of fullness after eating a small amount of food.