Gastric Bypass Surgery

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery works by reducing the amount of food your stomach can hold and by limiting the number of calories your body can absorb. The St. Francis Surgical Weight Loss Center — located in Greenville, SC and convenient to Spartanburg, Anderson, and areas throughout the Upstate, SC region — offers Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery performed using either an open or laparoscopic technique. Your bariatric surgeon will help determine if one of these Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery options is right for you.

Open Roux-en-Y Surgery

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. The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure alters this process by bypassing a section of your small intestine.

There are two basic steps to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. The first step makes your stomach smaller. By creating a smaller stomach pouch, a gastric bypass limits the amount of food that can be eaten at one time, so you feel full sooner and stay full longer. The surgeon divides the stomach into a small upper section and a larger bottom section using staples that are similar to stitches. The top section of the stomach (called the pouch) will hold your food.

After the stomach has been divided, the surgeon connects a section of the small intestine to the pouch. When eating, the food now travels from the pouch through this new connection, bypassing the lower part of the stomach. The surgeon then reconnects the base with the rest of the small intestines from the bottom of the stomach, forming a y-shape. By bypassing a portion of the small intestine, it also causes your body to absorb fewer calories.

As you eat less food, and absorb fewer calories, your body will stop storing excess calories and start using its fat supply for energy.

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Surgery

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery may also be done laparoscopically, using a camera placed in the abdomen. This less-invasive technique allows the surgeon to make smaller surgical cuts, which lowers the risk of large scars and hernias after the gastric bypass procedure.

First, small surgical cuts are made in your abdomen. The surgeon passes thin surgical instruments through these narrow openings. The surgeon also passes a camera through one of these small openings and watches through a lens and video monitor to do the surgery.

Not everyone is a candidate for the laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. Your surgeon will determine the best and safest approach for you.

You may not be a good candidate for laparoscopic Roux-en-Y surgery if you have had past abdominal surgery, due to scar tissue, have significant heart and lung disease, and/or weigh more than 350 pounds.

Attend a Free Seminar in Greenville, SC

Visit St. Francis to attend a free orientation seminar and learn more about Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. Our center is located in Greenville, SC and is convenient to Spartanburg, Anderson, and areas throughout the Upstate.