Gastric Bypass Revisions

If you are experiencing:

  • heartburn / reflux that is getting progressively worse and medication is not controlling it

  • difficulty swallowing that is causing you to choke/throw up when you eat, lie down or sleep

  • Eating mostly a liquid, saucy, crunchy and flaky diet and can-not eat the more solid, dry, dense or doughy foods

  • Epigastric abdominal pain (area between the chest and abdomen)

  • Significantly lower weight loss than predicted

  • Significantly higher weight loss than predicted

You may have one of these complications:

  • Marginal ulcer

  • Stricture, Stricture with high grade obstruction

  • Gastro - Gastric Fistula

  • eartburn / reflux

  • Incarcerated / Herniated pouch (more common if patient was converted from sleeve to bypass – pouch is trapped/herniated in the chest)

  • Biliary reflux/gastritis/esophagitis (bile causing irritation of stomach and esophagus)

  • Large gastric pouch / horizontal gastric pouch

Next steps / Options

When experiencing the symptoms or complications described above get help.  Find a bariatric surgeon (weight loss surgeon) as soon as possible who does revision surgery.   The symptoms will usually continue to get worse not better.

The best studies to diagnose the problem is an UGI (upper gastric swallowing study) and an Upper Endoscopy (scoping of your stomach) to evaluate the function of your bypass and determine what has changed about your bypass since your surgery.  

After the UGI and Upper Endoscopy it should become apparent what is causing the problem(s) you are experiencing, and the surgeon will start discussing with you what can and can not be done to correct or improve the problem. 

Your options may include:

• Changing your medication regimen

• Staring a new medication

• Stretching of the gastro-jejunostomy (stricture)

• Reversing the bypass operation

• Revision of the gastro-jejunostomy (pouch outlet)

• Reducing pouch size / Anastomosis size

• Converting the Sleeve to a Gastric Bypass

• Undergoing a Hiatal Hernia reduction and repair of the trapped pouch in the chest

The Gastric Bypass operation is used in morbidly obese patients to lose weight. Some patients can experience sub-optimal weight loss despite the surgery, or develop complications.  In such cases, revision weight loss surgery may be needed to induce or maintain weight loss or correct a complication.

Please call and make an appointment to discuss your symptoms, and how to diagnose what is causing your problems.  Only then can we determine what happened and how to help.