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What is bariatric surgery

What is bariatric surgery and how can it help you lose excess weight?

If you are like 59% of European adults, you are overweight or living with the complex disease of obesity.1 Diet, exercise and medications can help some people lose weight. But they don't work well for everyone. Bariatric surgery can be a valid option for people fighting excess weight. This article looks at the different types of weight loss surgery.2 

Bariatric surgery is just a fancy name for weight loss surgery. Although there are different types of bariatric surgeries, they all have one thing in common: they help people with a high body mass index (BMI) achieve significant and lasting weight loss.3

Bariatric surgery works by altering the digestive system. Some surgical procedures reduce how much food you are physically capable of eating. Others limit your body’s ability to absorb nutrients effectively. And some procedures do both.4

The most common types of bariatric surgery are:

  • Gastric bypass surgery (also called the Roux-en-Y procedure, stomach bypass surgery, or bariatric bypass surgery)
  • Gastric bypass omega loop (also called amini-gastric bypass or single-anastomosis gastric bypass)
  • Gastric sleeve surgery (also called sleeve gastrectomy, partial gastrectomy, or vertical gastric sleeve)
  • Gastric band surgery (also called LAP-band)
  • Duodenal switch surgery (also called BPD/DS)

Bariatric surgery

What's next for you? 

First, of course, you need to think it over yourself. And if you’re potentially interested, you'll need careful evaluation by healthcare professionals to determine whether surgery is right for you.

In the meantime, you might want to read this article:

Curious about whether you might qualify for bariatric surgery?

Find out here
References

1. World Health Organization, New WHO report: Europe can reverse its obesity “epidemic”, 3 May 2022.

2. Johansson K, Neovius M, Hemmingsson E. Effects of anti-obesity drugs, diet, and exercise on weight-loss maintenance after a very-low-calorie diet or low-calorie diet: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jan;99(1):14-23. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.070052. Epub 2013 Oct 30. PMID: 24172297; PMCID: PMC3862452.

3. Stanislaw G., et al., The Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Weight Loss and Metabolic Changes in Adults with Obesity, Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jul 24;17(15):5342. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17155342.

4. Mayo Clinic, Bariatric surgery. Oct 2023

5. University of Pitsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

6. Buchwald H, Buchwald J. Metabolic (Bariatric and Non-bariatric) Surgery for Type2 Diabetes: A Personal Perspective Review, Diabetes Care 2019;42:331–340 | https://doi.org/10.2337/dc17-2654

7. Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital, Is a Stretched Stomach After Gastric Sleeve Possible? 2024 htps://mdbariatrics.com/blog/is-a-stretched-stomach-aftergastric-sleeve-possible/

8. The London Obesity group. Is Gastric Band Surgery Reversible? 2022

9. Cleveland Clinic. Gastric Band Surgery (LAP-Band). 2024htps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/17163-lap--band-surgery

Disclaimer

Information contained herein is not medical advice and should not be used as an alternative to speaking with your doctor.
Discuss indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, adverse events and any further information with your health care professional.