This surgery also called Bariatric Surgery , "baros" meaning weight from Greek. The idea behind this procedure is to create a smaller stomach so most of the food will bypass the stomach and only a small proportion will eventually end up entering your body. Smaller stomach volume will cause you to eat less because you'll feel full earlier and fewer calories will be absorbed. The surgery also creates a bypass to some part of the small intestine, which also contributes to less absorption. This results in weight loss. This surgery usually performed on people who have body mass index above 40 or those who have serious comorbidities resulting from their weight. Sometimes the doctors also recommend this surgery for people who haven't succeeded in losing weight with alternative methods. Some other conditions, which are considered, are: not having alcohol abuse or psychiatric disorder such as depression and you should also be between the ages of 18-65. In general most of the clinics require candidates with long term commitment to change life habits like training and diet.
This operation can be performed using several techniques, the most common one called Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In a normal digestion process the food passes from the stomach to the small intestine and then to the large intestine. In the small intestine most of the nutrients are absorbed. To create a bypass the surgeon will create a small pocket in the upper portion of the stomach using a special plastic ring or staples. Then he'll connect the "new" stomach to the middle portion of the small intestine called jejunum, that way the food will bypass the rest of the stomach and upper portion of the small intestine called duodenum.
The surgery can be performed by making a large cut on the abdomen (laparotomy) or by making few small cuts with minimally invasive technique (laparoscopy).
Common risks for this procedure include infection, peritonitis, pulmonary embolism, gallstones and nutrients deficiency such as B12, iron and calcium.
After the surgery you'll have to stay in hospital for 4-6 days after laparotomy and 2-3 days after laparoscopy. Most of the people are able to return to their daily activities after 3-5 weeks.
You'll need to drastically change your eating habits, you should eat small amount of food more often. This will help to minimize "dumping syndrome" which is due to food moves too quickly from the stomach to the intestine and may cause sweating, weakness and dizziness.