The pros and cons of Gastric Bypass surgery – the role of the Roux-limb

Publication date: Available online 23 July 2019Source: Best Practice & Research Clinical GastroenterologyAuthor(s): Per Björklund, Lars FändriksAbstractThe prevalence of overweight and obesity has exploded in the post-industrial era. Life style interventions like dieting and exercise can induce a marked weight loss, but the main problem for most patients is to maintain the reduced body weight over time. Gastric bypass surgery is a commonly performed and very effective method for achieving a pronounced and sustained weight loss including metabolic improvements in obese patients. Despite the therapeutic successfulness there are known side-effects like chronic postprandial nausea and pain that in some patients become intractable. The pathophysiology is complex and partly unexplored. The physician or surgeon handling a patient with “post-bariatric symptoms” must be aware of the risk for symptom aggravations due to iatrogenic opioid-associated intestinal dysmotility. The present paper gives a brief overview of obesity surgery and its associated postsurgical conditions with a focus on the unexplored role of the Roux-limb following gastric bypass surgery.
Source: Best Practice and Research Clinical Gastroenterology - Category: Gastroenterology Source Type: research