How Safe Is Gastric Bypass Surgery?

Gastric bypass surgery reduces the size of your stomach. The smaller stomach is then bypassed or reconnected to the small intestine. Because it's so small, you feel full much faster, which can lead to quick weight loss. Following surgery, your stomach can hold about two tablespoons worth of food, as opposed to the quart a normal stomach holds. There are safety risks associated with gastric bypass surgery, though. In addition to the normal risk of an invasive surgery, the new stomach size can cause health complications in and of itself.

Warning

• Respiratory problems can occur when undergoing gastric bypass surgery. There could also be blood clots, leaks of the intestine or stomach and infections.

Concern

• Many doctors have found complications following gastric bypass surgery. Patients can experience hemorrhages in their bowel or develop a hernia, which causes severe pain.

Effects

• Following gastric bypass surgery, your stomach is very small, which means if you continue to eat after a feeling of fullness, you will vomit the food back up. Sugary and fatty foods will cause vomiting or diarrhea, which can come on very quickly and violently.

Dumping Syndrome

• The vomiting can be quite painful and comes with chest palpitations, delirium, cold chills and the sweats. This is called dumping syndrome, a side effect that gastric bypass patients anxiously dread.

Considerations

• Gastric bypass patients can sometimes develop food intolerances to milk, red meat and high fiber food. Following surgery, patients must follow a strict eating diet, including liquids, only for the first few weeks, followed by a puree diet until the eighth week, then finally a regular diet consisting of small meals.