Gastric Bypass Complications Have To Be Viewed Over A Relatively Long Time Frame

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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Gastric bypass surgery (which is also referred to as bariatric or weight loss surgery) is assisting tens of thousands of severely obese people to reduce their risk from life-threatening conditions like diabetes and to get back much of their former lifestyle. Problems arising from gastric bypass surgery can however be substantial and have to be considered carefully before opting for surgery.

A variety of studies have been conducted looking at rates of gastric bypass complication in the short-term and these generally follow patients for about 30 days after their procedure. However, a more recent study (examining claims for both hospital and outpatient care for in excess of 5 million adults enrolled in employer sponsored health plans across forty-nine states and including in excess of 2,500 weight loss patients) has now extended the findings of previous studies to look in depth at complications experienced up to 6 months after surgery.

The study revealed that death occurred during the procedure, or in the 6 months after surgery, in just 0.2% of patients and that the most common complications were dumping syndrome (reflux, vomiting and diarrhea) which happened in about 20% of cases, anastomosis problems (such as leakage or restriction at the join of the stomach and the intestine) which was seen in about 12% of cases, abdominal hernias in about 7% of cases, infections in roughly 6% of cases and pneumonia which was seen in roughly 4% of patients.

The study also showed that approximately 10% or those people who got through the first 30 days after surgery without complication went on to experience complications during the following 5 months. In most cases these problems consisted of dumping syndrome, anastomosis problems, abdominal hernia, and marginal ulcers. In addition, despite the fact that just less than 5% of patients had to be re-admitted to hospital during the first 30 day period, this figure climbed to a little over 7% when looking at the longer 6 month time period.

The cost of gastric bypass surgery was also increased considerably by problems and, although patients experiencing surgery without complication paid about $25,000, complications within the 6 month post-operative period increased this to in the region of $36,500. Where patients needed to be re-admitted to hospital as a result of gastric bypass complications the cost increased to in excess of $65,000.

Bariatric surgery is very much the beginning of the weight loss process and, as opposed to many forms of surgery which cure your problem more or less on the spot, the results of gastric bypass surgery take some time to appear. It is no surprise therefore that complications arise following surgery and these complications must be carefully considered before taking any decision to take this route.

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