Question:
Has anyone had RNY done laproscopically after having an appendectomy?

I am scheduled for surgery on August 21 and I asked the Dr.'s head nurse if I would be a candidate for laproscopic surgery. She asked me if I have had any other abdominal surgery before and when I told her that I had my appendix out about 16 years ago, she said that I could not have laproscopic RNY because of the scar tissue from my surgery 16 years ago. If anyone has any information on this I really would appreciate your response!    — Julie B. (posted on July 20, 2001)

July 20, 2001
I had an appendectomy with a huge scar straight up and down because they didnt know what was wrong with me so they did exploratory surgery and I had uterine fibroids removed with a rather large bikini line scar. I had a lap rny in April and my surgeon said before I went in that he did not anticipate any problems with my previous surgeries and there were none - he did the lap rny with no problems at all. You should discuss this directly with your surgeon and if he's not comfortable with your surgical history and feels he can't do the Lap because of that, you may want to consider another surgeon who is able to do this laparascopically because there are many doctors out there who do. One appendectomy scar should not prevent you from having a lap procedure. Good luck.
   — [Anonymous]

July 20, 2001
My personal feeling is that your surgeon is one with extremely limited or no experience/expertise in the field of laparascopic surgery. Prior to my completely successful, uncomplicated/ 1hour 10 min. long lap RNY, I had had 3 major lower abdominal surgeries with vertical incisions from bellybutton to pubic area, and a "traditional" gall bladder surgery with a 7" diagonal incision across my upper abdomen. Important points to consider are: 1)RNY surgery involves the upper abdominal area and prior surgeries in the lower abdominal area should not present a problem; 2)adhesions from previous surgeries can be removed very effectively during a laparascopic surgery and should only increase total operating time slightly....I had extensive adhesions from the previous gall bladder surgery, and my surgeon estimated that removing those adhesions added approximately 10-15 minutes to the surgery. Laparascopic surgery requires a great deal of training and "practice" to perfect. Many exquisite and highly skilled surgeons only perform open surgeries because they are unable or uninterested in taking the time away from their very busy, established practices to learn the techniques and perfect the skills necessary to perform lap surgeries. If you are confident in the ability/competence/expertise of your surgeon to perform an open RNY surgery, and having a larger incision and slightly longer recovery period are non-issues for you, then continue with your plans as they are. If having a lap surgery is an important factor in your decision, then take the time to investigate other surgeons who are more experienced in that field....your previous appendectomy would never be an issue for an experienced lap surgeon. Best of luck!
   — Diana T.

July 24, 2001
I had my laproscopic RNY on May 7, 2001, with no complications. I had a appendectomy in 1991 and a C-Section in 1992. I agree with the other posts, you should see how experienced your doctor is in performing the lap RNY.
   — Michelle K.