Types of Weight Loss Surgery

For many struggling with obesity and obesity-related health conditions, achieving significant weight loss can feel like a never-ending battle. If you’ve tried diet and exercise but have yet to see lasting results, bariatric surgery may be a viable option.

Bariatric surgery, also known as weight-loss surgery, can be a safe and effective way to reduce weight and significantly improve overall health. This significant weight loss can lead to a healthier and fitter lifestyle, with many patients experiencing improvements in conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

However, it’s important to remember that bariatric surgery is a complex medical procedure and not a one-size-fits-all solution, so deciding on the right surgery for you is essential.

Here, we discuss the four main types of weight loss surgery. To learn more, contact us directly or continue reading below.

How Does Weight Loss Surgery Work?

Weight loss procedures achieve results through two main mechanisms: restriction and malabsorption.

1. Restriction: By physically limiting the amount of food your stomach can hold, these procedures lead you to consume fewer calories, promoting weight loss.
2. Malabsorption: In some surgeries, a portion of the small intestine is bypassed, reducing the amount of nutrients and calories your body can absorb from food.

There are three main types of weight loss surgery, each with its own approach:

1. Sleeve gastrectomy: This procedure removes a large portion of the stomach called the fundus, creating a banana-shaped pouch that restricts food intake.  The fundus is the part of the stomach that stretches so that you can eat more.  It also makes the hunger hormone Ghrelin.
2. Duodenal switch with biliopancreatic diversion: This is a more complex procedure that combines the gastric sleeve with a small intestine bypass. During a DS, about half of the small intestines are bypassed.
3. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: This surgery reroutes the digestive system to create a small stomach pouch connected directly to the small intestine. Bypassing the main stomach and small intestine, the gastric bypass leads to both restriction and a more robust metabolic response.

The 3 Types of Weight Loss Surgery: Explained

Sleeve Gastrectomy

Sleeve gastrectomy is a weight-loss surgery that restricts the amount of food you can eat by permanently removing about 75-80% of your stomach. The remaining portion is reshaped into a narrow tube, resembling a banana in size and shape. This limited stomach capacity leads to feeling full sooner and consuming fewer calories overall.

Sleeve gastrectomy also offers an additional benefit by reducing the production of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger. This can further contribute to decreased appetite and support weight loss efforts.

It’s important to note that sleeve gastrectomy does not bypass any part of the small intestine, so your body will continue to absorb nutrients and calories normally.

Duodenal Switch with Biliopancreatic Diversion

Duodenal switch with biliopancreatic diversion (BPD/DS) is a more complex weight-loss surgery that combines two techniques to achieve significant weight loss.

• Like a sleeve gastrectomy, the first step involves removing a large portion of the stomach and creating a smaller pouch to restrict food intake. The pyloric valve, which controls food release from the stomach, and the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine, remain intact.
• The second step, the biliopancreatic diversion, involves rerouting the digestive system. A section of the middle small intestine is bypassed, and the last section is then reconnected directly to the duodenum. This bypass limits the intestine’s ability to absorb nutrients and calories from food.

BPD/DS is a powerful weight-loss tool, but it’s also a more complex surgery with a higher risk of complications compared to other procedures.

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is a weight-loss surgery that combines restriction and malabsorption to achieve significant weight loss.

• Restriction: The surgeon creates a small pouch from the upper portion of your stomach. This pouch becomes the only part of your stomach that receives food, dramatically limiting the amount you can comfortably consume.
• Metabolic response: A section of the small intestine is then cut and reattached to the newly created pouch, bypassing the remainder of the stomach, the first portion of the small intestine, and the pancreas. Food travels directly from the pouch to this reattached section of the small intestine.  Bypassing the main stomach, pancreas, and part of the intestines causes a robust release of metabolic hormones.  This release of metabolic hormones helps with better appetite control, resolution of type 2 diabetes, and more enhanced weight loss compared to the gastric sleeve, which is a restrictive procedure only.

While the bypassed stomach section still produces digestive juices, these juices are rerouted. The surgeon connects another section of the small intestine further down to the bypassed stomach, allowing the digestive juices to mix with food in the bypassed section and eventually reach the small intestine for nutrient absorption.

Personalized Effective Weight Loss Surgery in Florida

Are you or someone you love considering weight loss surgery? Considerate and dependable bariatric surgeon Dr. Wiljon Beltre receives patients from Orlando, Tampa, Maitland, Central Florida, and other towns and cities in this part of the nation for weight loss procedures.

To learn more about Beltre Bariatrics’ weight loss surgery options, please call us directly at 407-720-5612 or schedule a consultation online.