Thinking about mini gastric bypas

The surgical risks are the same, but the long term complication rates are higher for the MGB. But there are so few MGBs done, the statistics don't mean a lot.

Whenever a new surgery comes along, it's hailed as the next great thibg. There have been a couple dozen such surgeries that are no longer performed because of their horrible long term issues.

Five years ago, everyone thought the sleeve was perfect. Now, more and more people are lining up for RNY revisions because of horrible reflux. Huge percenrages will be on drugs long term that have all sorts of horrible risks.

I just don't understand why someone wants to be a guinea pig for a newer, seldom done procedure when there are options with extensive track records.

What would you recommend?

Well, what I did was have a traditional RNY. They've done more of those, for a much longer period, than any other surgery type. Surgeons have had the time and experience to really refine the surgery and their techniques over the years. It's been long enough that all of the complications and side effects are well known, as well as the solutions to those problems.

I was only going to do this once.

Please cite sources to back up your claim that "the long term complication rates are higher for the MGB." My research doesn't back that up at all so it sounds like fear mongering to me.

How old are you? How long have you been overweight? What is your starting weight?

If you want the least invasive surgery, why not get a VGS?

Having gone the private route in Canada and now going through the public route I can tell you there is a reason for the weight times. The amount of education and medical and emotional checks that are complicated when going through the OBN is on a whole different level. Also, while the standard follow up may be being reduced to 2 years, if you ever have a problem your doctor just needs to contact them and they will help you. I had the horror story with the Toronto Lapband Clinic, turned Slimband clinic which had a contract for life long support then took that away with the rebranding and patients needed to pay. Also, if something does go wrong, it is much more difficult to get help from OHIP on correcting the problem and you will be out of pocket again if you have to go private.

The wait is not really that long when you are thinking about something this important. If you are not at the point where your comorbidities are life threatening I would highly recommend going through the OBN.

Not intending to be a fear monger or conspiracy theorist but there may be a reason a surgeon no longer does the traditional gastric bypass and only the much faster mini gastric. This is only compounded by the fact that it is private and the more operations they can do, the more money they get.

Also, if you are looking at Smart Shape you should find it off that their site shows their nurses and coaches but not their surgeons. Also find it odd that the culminating years of experience is different in different areas of the site. Not to mention that collecting 50 years of experience between is a group is no great accomplishment.

Lastly, I had the Lapband when banding seemed like that great up and coming. Now a decade later, multiple studies and journals have found that 80% of lapbands are considered a failure and have either been removed when no replacement or revised to another gastric surgery. I would hate to think that you chose this route because this relatively young surgery seems like a great option and you didn't want to wait a few extra months for some of the best gastric surgeons in Ontario.

Finally, OHIP covers a lot of surgeries and treatments. There is likely a reason that mini bypass is not included. Especially if it is supposed to be a "faster, less recovery time with the same or similar results".

Great post.

The MGB has been kicking around for a long time - it was on the periphery of the bariatric business 14-15 years ago when my wife and I first started looking seriously at WLS, and remains there today as a minor player struggling to gain acceptance. In the meantime, both the DS and VSG have become accepted and routine surgeries (by the ASMBS, the US insurance industry and US Medicare) while the MGB has made no real progress. There are reasons for this and it would be best to find out what those are.

Another point to consider is the "Plan B" factor - what if it doesn't give the results desired and needs to be revised to something else, or if on simply has an accident or other illness or trauma - it is much better to have a configuration in you that is familiar to other surgeons. The VSG is a straitforward stomach reduction and the RNY configuration has been around for other purposes for about 130 years, so is familar to most any general or abdominal surgeon.