Gastric bypass surgery, a major surgery performed on morbidly obese people who have a body mass index greater than 40 or who are more than 100 pounds overweight, presents a successful, yet serious weight loss alternative. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is the most frequently performed bariatric surgery in the United States. Roux-en-Y and biliopancreatic diversion are two ways that gastric bypass can be performed; both include a drastic reduction in the size of the stomach and a "bypassing" of the small intestine. Due to the nature of the surgery, the surgery can present multiple complications.
Gallstones
Gallstones are small, pea-like substances that form in the gallbladder. Patients who have lost a significant amount of weight from gastric bypass surgery have a higher susceptibility of gallstone formation. "Studies have shown that 30 percent of gastric bypass patients will develop gallstones," according to Dr. Charles Callery. Gallstones can either present as no symptoms or cause very sharp pains and nausea in the upper right abdomen. For those patients who experience symptoms, medications to dissolve the gallstones or even removal of the gallbladder may prove necessary.
Incisional hernia
Abdominal weakening at the incision site of the gastric bypass can lead to an incisional hernia. The Mayo Clinic estimates that about 15 percent of patients that have open gastric bypass surgery develop a hernia. The treatment for an incisional hernia includes having another surgery to repair it.
Dehydration
Because of the severe reduction of the stomach, patients can no longer drink large quantities of liquids, including water. This lack of sufficient water can produce dehydration which can cause nausea and vomiting. If persistent vomiting occurs, it can lead to more dehydration resulting in a "vicious cycle and to vitamin deficiencies", according to The Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Pulmonary Embolism
A blood clot that has traveled from elsewhere in the body, likely from the legs to the lungs, causing a blockage in a pulmonary artery, characterizes a pulmonary embolism. This complication of gastric bypass can be fatal. Dr. David Anaise remarked that "pulmonary embolism is the leading cause of perioperative death in bariatric surgical patients....nearly one-third of the bariatric patients who suffer pulmonary embolism die." Although pulmonary embolisms can be treated if detected in time, the treatments can have long-term effects. Consider the serious complication of a pulmonary embolism when deciding on gastric bypass surgery.
Other Complications
Some other complications resulting from gastric bypass surgery include marginal ulcers, hypoglycemia and dumping syndrome.
Marginal ulcers result from the excessive production of gastric acid in the second part of the small intestine (jejunum) after gastric bypass surgery.
Low blood sugar or hypoglycemia, associated with gastric bypass complications, can cause the patient to have confusion, dizziness, headaches, or sweating.
When the food passes too quickly from the stomach to the small intestine, dumping syndrome can occur. Although it has no health risks, it unnerves most patients because the symptoms exhibit as sweating, rapid heartbeat, shaking, and abdominal cramping. Incidentally, dumping syndrome can cause hypoglycemia.
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