The main benefits of gastric bypass surgery include significant long-term weight loss and improvements to quality of life that come with adopting positive changes to eating behavior and making healthy lifestyle choices.

More specifically, gastric bypass patients may expect:

• more durable weight loss than after purely restrictive procedures
• low incidence of protein-calorie malnutrition and diarrhea
• rapid improvement or resolution of weight-related co-morbidities including insulin resistant diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis, incontinence, liver disease, certain types of headaches, heartburn, sleep apnea and many other disorders
• appetite reduction
• increased self-esteem
• positive behavior modification
• improved quality of life

Possible Complications

Any surgical procedure poses general risks including an adverse reaction to anesthesia or medications; bleeding; dehydration; diarrhea; heart attack; infection; injury to surrounding organs; lung problems ;nausea; pain; stroke; thrombosis (blood clots); and vomiting. Patients should research and discuss these and the possibility of other complications thoroughly before deciding to proceed with gastric bypass surgery.

Complications specific to gastric bypass surgery can be divided into early and late-stage complications.

Early-stage complications include:

• Dumping syndrome
• Pulmonary embolism risk
• Wound infection
• Gastrointestinal hemorrhage
• Respiratory problems

Late-stage complications include:

• Incisional hernia
• Bowel obstruction
• Internal hernia
• Stomal stenosis
• Micronutrient deficiencies
• Marginal ulcer
• Anemia
• Osteoporosis

Your obesity surgical team will discuss the likelihood of these complications and what you as a patient can do to reduce or eliminate their occurrence.