What Happens During Gastric Bypass Surgery?
There are two steps that take place during gastric bypass surgery:
1. The first step makes your stomach smaller. Your gastric bypass surgeon will use staples to divide your stomach into a small upper section and a larger bottom section. The top section of your stomach is where the food you eat will go. This section holds only about one ounce of food.
2. The second step is the bypass. Your gastric bypass surgeon will connect a small part of your small intestine (the jejunum) to a small hole in your new smaller stomach. The food you eat will now travel from the stomach into this new opening into your small intestine, and your body will absorb fewer calories.
At Phoenix, gastric bypass procedures are performed laparoscopically, ie by keyhole surgery.
1. First, your gastric bypass surgeon will make four to six small cuts in your belly.
2. Next your gastric bypass surgeon will pass the laparoscope (connected to a video monitor in the operating room) through one of these cuts. Your gastric bypass surgeon uses this video to see inside your belly.
3. Your gastric bypass surgeon will use thin surgical instruments to do your bypass. These instruments will be inserted through the other cuts.
