OK, we all know someone whose spent thousands to get a lap band operation done. The fancy – and proper – name for that opp is actually is Roux-en-Y – also known as RNY. We all know about it because in the United States, this is the most common bariatric surgery procedure performed.
Roux-en-Y combines restriction of the amount of food you can eat with malabsorption techniques which cause a portion of the eaten food to pass out of the body unabsorbed. So you lose weight in two highly effective ways.
Roux-en-Y employs a bipass mechanism known as gastrojejunostomy, a “digestive short cut” in which the stomach is first reduced and then is surgically connected directly to a point in the small intestine below where the main food absorption usually takes place. These process provide both the eating reduction and also the malabsorption components.
Patients who have undergone RNY surgery usually lose weight very quickly. Now while that me be good news are part of you is most likely thinking – “What about the important nutrients I may be losing”? In fact the loss of vital nutrients such as vitamins and mineral is a major concern after this surgery.
However, not all types of RNY are mal-nutritive to the same degree. Although it is a bypass type of procedure, the most commonly used form of Roux-en-Y is a “malabsorptive” surgery but is one that is the least likely to result in malnutrition.
This surgery has three distinct types: Distal, Medial, and Proximal. These terms are indicative of the length of small intestine that is bypassed. Proximal is the most common of these; in this surgery, the least amount of small intestine is bypassed.
Malnutrition is unusual with Proximal RNY, because the patient has more intestine to absorb the nutrients in the food consumed. Distal and Medial RNY surgeries are not used as often, because severe complications can occur; and among those are serious malnutrition and chronic diarrhea.
So that gives a basic idea of how this kind of surgery works. It explains why it is a highly effective method for weight loss. In a later post we’ll explain about the complications and the possible drawbacks of the procedure.
You are not correct. Roux en Y and Lap banding are two totally different surgery techniques. The lap band DOES NOT cut the stomach, re route, nor create any malabsorption of food. What you describe here is the Roux en Y.
Lap banding is simply a silicone implant which goes around the stomach at the top to RESTRICT the amount of food that one can eat. It is a tool for helping people eat the appropriate quantity of food. The operation absolutely REVERSIBLE, unlike any other gastric surgeries that are currently performed including the Roux en Y.