The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is one of the most common weight loss surgical procedures. It results in weight loss by significantly reducing the size of your stomach, so you cannot eat as much, and by bypassing your small intestines, so you absorb less fat from the foods you eat.
The procedure
This procedure comprises two steps: partitioning of the stomach and reconstruction of the gastrointestinal tract.
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- A small pouch is created from the upper stomach using staples. This process leaves the larger part of the stomach non-functional.
- The small intestine is divided into two parts. One end is then attached to the stomach pouch. The other end, which is still connected to the part of the stomach that is no longer functional, is reattached to the intestinal tract to enable drainage of the digestive juices.