Safe and Effective for Most Patients

Follow-up studies over ten years demonstrate that gastric bypass surgery is safe and effective for most people. Approximately 75% of patients will lose and keep off 50% of their excess weight. Medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, elevated cholesterol, gastroesophageal reflux disease and sleep apnea commonly improve after the surgery.

Risks and Complications

No major surgery is without risk. Nationally, there is a 0.5% mortality or death rate for obesity surgery. This means that for every 200 patients operated on, one dies. Death is not usually due to the operation per se, but as a result of chronic lung or heart problems. The complication rate for this surgery nationally is about 10%. This means that one in ten patients will experience a complication related to the surgery. These potential complications include bleeding, wound infection, pneumonia, blood clots, and bowel obstruction. These complications can be successfully treated. There are several problems that may develop 3-12 months after surgery. These include abdominal hernias (a risk of one in five when the operation is performed using the open technique) and certain nutritional deficiencies. All patients are started on nutritional supplements immediately after surgery to prevent these deficiencies. You will need to be periodically monitored for these and other potential medical problems by our team.