Question:
What is the meaning of transection?

When a person says they were or were not transected with the RNY, what exactly does that mean? What is the benefits of having RNY with transection?    — Jan S. (posted on November 8, 2002)

November 8, 2002
Transection is the actual cutting/separating of the old stomach and the new pouch. Some surgeons put in up to 8 rows of staples and form the pouch that way without cutting the two apart. The stapler that my surgeon uses cuts and staples at the same time. So we have the transection plus the staples. When transected (separated) from the old stomach, the new pouch will form scar tissue around the staples and seal itself. Without transection, the staples sometimes come loose and there is a staple line disruption. The belief is that with transection the seal is permanent and will not come undone. With stapling alone, the staples can come loose at any time in the future sometimes years down the road. My first rny was not transected and it came loose at 6 mos post op. I had to have another surgery done to repair the staple line and to transect this time. I feel very confident that I can relax now and not worry about disruption again. With transection, the danger of leak is in the first two or three days postop and most are in the hospital then so it is caught early on and can be fixed. If you are not transected and disrupt, the chance of regain of weight is almost certain but there is no danger of peritonitis (food leaking into the abdominal cavity) as the food just goes into the still attached stomach. If given a choice, transection is the better choice of the two!
   — Mylou52