Gastric bypass surgery is one of the most common types of weight surgeries practised worldwide for weight loss. Gastric bypass surgery is also often referred to as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
The basic mechanism behind Gastric bypass surgery lies in shrinking your stomach than the actual size, which is achieved by bypassing parts of your intestine, mainly bowels, in order for you to consume and eventually absorb lesser calories. This surgery is mainly for people with obesity.
The Gastric Bypass surgery requirements are not very demanding. You can be considered for the surgery only when you meet a certain bar of requirements regarding the Body Mass Index. (BMI). However, it is also certain to realize that you should go ahead for the surgery if you have tried to lose weight via normal methods for at least 6 months, and still failed to achieve any weight loss. You will be fairly eligible for Gastric Bypass if you have a BMI of,
● 40 or more
● 35 to 40 but with medical problems like type 2 diabetes or hypertension, which could be at a good extent fixed by weight loss.
● For BMI greater than 50, you may be offered a gastric bypass straight away
The gastric bypass surgery is commonly carried out by keyhole procedure. Instead of making a large cut, keyhole surgery is carried out by making small cuts in your abdomen (tummy). However, for some cases, like for a very overweight patient or a patient who has already had an abdomen surgery, an open operation will be needed. During the procedure, staples are used to create a small pouch in the top part of your stomach, as the image below shows. The pouch is attached by stitches to the lower part of your small intestine so food that you eat will bypass most of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine. This means your body will absorb lesser food as you would feel full after eating only a small meal portion. Gastric bypass surgery is performed under the influence of general anaesthesia after the surgery.
After Gastric Bypass Surgery, a patient would ideally be recommended to stay 2-3 days in the hospital before the discharge. The Gastric Bypass recovery time is usually about our and six weeks before a patient can get back to normal activity. This gastric bypass recovery time may vary from person to person, so talk to your surgeon about what’s right for you.
Gastric Bypass sleeve surgery is very similar to Gastric bypass surgery. However, the procedure differs. Gastric Bypass Sleeve surgery is performed by removing the side part of the stomach while leaving a smaller tub for storing food. Another difference is that it doesn’t bypass the intestines, like the ordinary bypass. This surgery is also responsible for removing ghrelin, the hormone which is responsible for stimulating hunger.
Here's a list of Gastric Bypass side effects that may follow after a patient undergoes gastric bypass procedure:
● Bruising, pain and swelling of the skin around the patient's wound area
● Nausea after eating, since the amount of food the patient eats, is reduced
● If the patient consumes food which is rich in sugar or fat, he/she can get an unpleasant sensation called dumping. It can make you feel sick or faint, or give you abdominal pain
● Diarrhoea
The Gastric Bypass before and after for a patient sees a significant drop in his/her excess body weight, of about 65%. This percentage of excess weight shed is constant regardless of the body type or body weight.
Let's take an example,
Patient 1 is 6 foot and 400 lbs:
● Patient 1’s ideal weight is 194.7 lbs.
● Patient 1 has 205.3 lbs of excess weight.
● He comes down to 133 lbs, which means he sheds 65% of his excess weight.
● After 2 years of surgery, the patient's weight is 266 lbs
Patient 2 is 5 foot 2 and 247 lbs:
● Patient 2’s ideal weight is 143.4 lbs
● Patient 2 has 102.3 lbs of excess weight
● She comes down to 65.93 lbs, which means she sheds 65% of her excess weight
● After 2 years of surgery, the patient's weight is 181 lbs
In both cases, it should be observed that both patients have different body types and weights, however, they lose a similar percentage of their same weight after the gastric bypass surgery.
The Bariatric Surgery Cost in India is definitely an economical option with respect to the Bariatric Surgery Cost in other countries which are at par in terms of medical facilities. Cost of Bariatric Surgery in Delhi or any other metropolitan city in India would be more reasonable than what you would have to pay at Super Speciality hospitals abroad. Bariatric Surgery at Apollo Hospital has been largely lauded due to the intensive care and attention provided by the doctors and the staff. The Sleeve Gastrectomy Cost in India is also not as expensive as one would expect from Premium Hospitals abroad.
To answer is Bariatric surgery safe in India or not, it is important to know that every surgery has some advantages and risks attached to it. However, if the number of positives outweighs the side effects, the surgery is considered safe. While we have already discussed in brief about the side effects, it is important to know the safety takeaways of Gastric bypass surgery which are:
● The Bariatric surgery has a survival rate of 99.9% survival rate
● The long-term risks of being obese are much greater than the risks of Bariatric weight loss surgery.
● Complications ranging from minor to serious scale are experienced by 1 in 10 patients.
Gleneagles Global Hospital, Bangalore 
