Question:
proximal or distal

my opertive report says my surgeon made my pouch 4cm x 1.5cm long limb from pouch to rest of tract is 150cm.surgeon said it is an open RNY report says gastroplasty with bypass.    — lauriegrizzard (posted on January 11, 2004)

January 11, 2004
You're Distal.
   — Steph Elaine

January 12, 2004
I just wish I knew what proximal and distal meant! I see it here all the time, but I don't know! 8/11/03 302/207/150 Open RNY
   — Angie M.

January 12, 2004
Proximal = means close in, as in the top end of the small intestine (closest to the stomach)<p> Distal = means far out, as in the far end (nearest the colon)<p> When it comes to surgeries, there is no standard definition. What some docs call a distal, my doc calls a short prox.<p> The only real objective definition, IMNHO, is the measurement standard. If your bypass is measured from the distal end (i.e., a common channel), you are distal. If measured from the prox end, you are proximal. <p> By this standard, *no* distal surgery can be done lap.<p> If your doc talks about "amount bypassed", you're prox. If he talks about "common channel", you're distal. I won't get into the variations, i.e. prox-prox, prox-distal, etc.<p> There are some here with 40" common channels, I'm a 60". 40" is common for DSers (Duodenal Switch patients), but some of us RnYers have short channels.
   — RWH G.

January 12, 2004
"Gastroplasty" means they reshaped your stomach. the "with gastric bypass" means they also rearranged your small intestine. With the RNY, the amount bypassed can range from about 50 cm to 200cm. At 150 cm bypassed, you would generally be considered a distal.
   — MsBatt