VERY CONFUSED

I just spoke to my friend who is having the bypass and lives in the state of VT. When speaking about the surgery she said that with the bypass they actually use a surgical clamp that stays in your body. And.. that they no longer totally cut, sew and separate but use this clamp instead. She said that the cut and separate is the OLD method used years ago, this is the newer safer method, because if anything goes really wrong they can fix it. I dont remember them mentioning anything about a clamp in the meeting! Does anyone else have the information?? Is massachusetts BEHIND VT medically?? Are we still using the OLD method?? Or do they just not speak about the clamp in the informational meetings?? This was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing. Also I found out in VT that they automatically remove your gallbladder if you still have one, rather than have it be an issue down the road, I guess its one stop shopping. Any thoughts? Comments? Just trying to get clarity, and wondering why the surgery wouldnt be done the same way across the board, or maybe I just dont have all the info? Thanks!! :)

This is news to me.  Maybe try the main board or the VT board.  Definately ask your surgeon too!

I think your friend has been hanging around the hospital inhaling ether! Seriously, I've never ever heard of this "clamp" thing-y.  Like lots of "my friend said" stories, I'm afraid that she probably half-heard a nugget of real information, and then it bounced around her head so much that when she repeated it to you, it _frankly_ came out completely garbled.  Someone like that is NOT doing you any favors! The "Fobi pouch" procedure is a modified RNY that uses a silastic ring to keep the pouch and stoma from stretching, but it has just as many "cut, sew and separate" steps as an ordinary RNY procedure.  I also haven't seen any studies that demostrate that it's any better than conventional RNY surgery. In fact, it almost sounds like your friend got things backwards.  10-15 years ago, the pouch was formed from the upper part of the stomach by a series of surgical staples, but the surgeon didn't bisect the stomach into two physically separate compartments.  It turned out that quite a few people ended up gaining weight because the staple line that formed the pouch opened up, effectively (re)creating one big semi-normal stomach again, bypassing the bypass.  Now, the surgeon actually physically separates the smaller pouch from the so-called "blind, remnant stomach" -- the pouch is now a separate "mini-stomach" of its own, meaning that there's less of a chance that this complication can happen.  So, in that sense, the more recent procedure (which everyone has performed for the last 8-10 years) is more invasive, harder to reverse, but more effective. Most differences aren't per-state, but per-surgeon, often differing between surgeons who share the same bariatric practice!   The policy of removing the gallbladder (or not) at the same time is one of these. /Steve

Sorry Haven't heard of a RNY being done with a clamp.  If you have any concerns speak with your surgeon.  He or she may have heard of it done that way.  I know most surgeons here do not just remove your gall badder if it is fine.  But it does kind of make sense just to get rid of it since many RNY patients have trouble with it down the road.  Good Luck!  You will get the best information from your surgeon.