What are the long-term results of the MGB?

Have any long term studies been done to look at the results of this surgery after 10-15 years? I've seen studies that discuss results after one year, and the %EWL in those studies seems to wildly vary according to who is doing the study. So what about regain? How does this surgery stack up against the other surgery types for long term maintenance of weight loss?

Anna, I had this surgery 8 1/2 years ago with Dr. Rutledge and I had no complications.  Dr. Rutledge can perform this surgery with his eyes closed!  However, I am having a revision surgery on July 10th to the true RNY.  The reason for the revision is regain.  I am not going to blame the surgery.  Unfortunately, I slipped back into bad habits and weight regain was the results.  This could happen with any surgery.  The reason I am using the surgeon I chose for the revision is because he knows all about the procedure and even trained under Dr. Rutledge for awhile when Dr. R was in NC.  He has performed revision of the mgb to the RNY.  I plan to learn from my past mistakes with this upcoming surgery.  I will no longer think of surgery as the "magic cure" but a tool.  If you choose the mgb with Dr. Rutledge you will be in good hands.  He is an excellent surgeon. Just make sure you have good after care, see a nutritionist, and go to support group meetings.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Darnell. Do you know if any studies have been done showing average regain? I've chosen the Duodenal Switch for my surgery, but I have a friend who is contemplating the MGB, and I'm just curious how it stacks up. The Duodenal Switch gets much better long term results than any other surgery I'm familiar with, but I just don't know that much about the MGB.

I've lost enormous amounts of weight so many times in my life only to gain it back and I won't risk that again. I'm so grateful that I found out about the DS.

Anna, If I could do it all over again with a "virgin" stomach I would probably go for the DS.  But when I first had surgery I did not do my research and I didn't know anything about the DS.  However, since I've had a wls the safest route for me to go is the RNY and learn from my prior mistakes.  The MGB has the same regain potential as the RNY.  Like I said earlier the mgb was a good surgery and Dr. Rutledge is very competent!  I didn't have a lot of discipline that it took to maintain the weight loss.  The DS is good if you have little discipline (like me).

Yep, that's me. I'm not very domestic. I hate hate HATE to take the time to cook, so fast food is my downfall. I doubt that there are very many morbidly obese people who have the discipline necessary to diet, or we probably wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. The thing that really just makes me crazy is the fact that after all the yo-yo dieting, I can't even seem to lose weight when I do become disciplined and stick to a diet. It's like my metabolism is broken. Thank God we have these surgeries to fix it!

Good luck with your surgery, Darnell! I hope you've found the one you can live with, and be healthy! 

Anna, I just looked at your profile.  Have you had the DS yet?  If not when do you plan to have it?

Hi Darnell,

I'm still fighting for insurance approval. My insurance has only paid for RNY and Lap-Band in the past, but they can't possibly keep saying that DS is "investigational" when it's been established as a safe and effective treatment, and when Medicare even pays for it. I've had all of my pre-op testing, been through the 6-month diet and will hop right up on the operating table just as soon as Blue Cross comes to their senses. ;)

Hi

There is a band they put around the stomach of a person that has had the gastric bypass surgery  and is gaining weight.(NOT THE LAP BAND)

How long was your bypass with the MGB?  Now the average is 6-8 feet and the average regain is 15-20%. 

I had a 6 ft long bypass.