Weight Loss Options
The Center for Surgical Weight Loss at Santa Rosa Medical Center offers surgical and weight loss options when traditional dieting and exercising have failed. These weight loss options share the same results: curbing hunger and restricting intake and/or absorption for maximum weight loss. Even better, each approach can be performed as a minimally invasive procedure using tiny incisions, which may make recovery fast and virtually pain-free.
Gastric Bypass Surgery
The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, also called gastric bypass surgery, is the most common type of weight loss surgery. The procedure includes two parts: making a small pouch in the stomach and the bypass. During the surgery, the stomach is divided and stapled to make a “pouch,” which holds a smaller amount of food; this helps you feel full quickly and eat less. The pouch is disconnected from the majority of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine (duodenum); it is then connected farther down, allowing food to pass directly to the jejunum. This procedure curbs your absorption of calories and nutrients, leading to weight loss.
Sleeve Gastrectomy
A vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) is a restrictive surgical weight loss procedure that reduces the size of the stomach. This procedure is typically performed using a minimally invasive approach (laparoscopy). During VSG, a thin vertical sleeve of stomach is created using a stapling device: the rest of the stomach is removed. By limiting the amount of food you can eat, sleeve gastrectomy helps you feel full sooner. Because food does not bypass any of the intestines, there is no malabsorption. Since this procedure removes most of your stomach, ghrelin, the “appetite hormone” created by the stomach, is decreased and reduces hunger.