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Non-invasive procedure corrects problems associated with gastric bypass

Story by Jessica Lovell

9:59 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Gastric bypass surgery helped 28-year-old Bryan Nugent lose 120 pounds. But in the past few years, he's gained most of it back.

"You think it's a fail-safe procedure, the first gastric bypass, but it's not,” he said.

Gastric bypass works two ways. The stomach is divided to form a tiny pouch that holds less food and it's connected to bypass most of the small intestine so fewer calories and nutrients are absorbed.

But over time, the stomach stretches and for some, the opening between the stomach and intestine expands.

"The patients feel hungry not five or six hours after a meal, but maybe an hour to an hour and a half,” said Dr. Dominick Artuso, Bariatric-Laparoscopic Surgeon. “And they can do more snacking and more significant eating throughout the day."

Also, as time goes by, the reconnected intestine works harder to hold on to the calories.

"It becomes more efficient and it absorbs more than it was in the first six to 12 months,” Artuso said.

Doctors can sometimes re-do the gastric bypass, but scar tissue can make it riskier. Instead, Dr. Artuso is one of a handful of surgeons adopting another type of obesity surgery, laparoscopic lap band surgery, to fix the problem.

"We keep the original bypass intact,” he said. “All we're doing is very non-invasively placing a band over the bypass where the stomach and intestine are connected and then start to gradually restrict or adjust that over the subsequent six to twelve months after surgery."

Bryan hopes the band will help him regain control of his eating.

“The control issue comes in where Dr. Artuso can tighten or loosen, depending on what's going on,” he said.

And, how much weight is coming off.