Question:
Gastric Bypass using esophagus vs. intestines to reattach????

Has anyone ever heard of getting gastric bypass where they do not touch the intestine, but rather, reattach your esophagus after making the stomach smaller? My cousin just got it done, but I dont know the name of it. It sounds a lot less risker. Please email me at [email protected], if you can help. Thanks...Lisa!!!    — Lisav22 (posted on June 25, 2004)

June 24, 2004
I don't know how this would be "less risky". I can't fathom the reasoning behind doing this. Part of the reason RNY works is because a segment of intestine is bypassed. Obviously, there is way more intestine to work with and the esophagus is much shorter and is in the chest cavity, for the most part. The top portion of the stomach is already attached to the the esophagus, so why would there be a disconnect there? Please see if you can find out anything more from your cousin about this procedure, like who did it and where it was done. Thanks!
   — koogy

June 25, 2004
I can't speak for anyone else, but if I were to have a surgery in which they ONLY made a smaller pouch but did some extra cutting, I would go with the lapband instead. Why cut my stomach AND rewire my esophagus, if the less invasive lapband accomplishes what this surgery does. Just my opinion...
   — [Deactivated Member]

June 25, 2004
Something doesn't add up here. More details would probably explain a lot. The esophogus is above the stomach so there is no need to reconnect anything. If a pouch was made with no bypass that is possible, but I agree with one of the other posters. I would do a lap band before having an extensive surgery of making a pouch just for restriction and no malabsorption. With the band it can be reversed or changed to an RNY or DS. A much safer way to go in my opinion. I wondering if she had like a VBG.
   — zoedogcbr

June 25, 2004
Reattach to WHAT? If they disconnected the eso, then reattached it, well, I an't imagine it. If scar tissue formed, foo may not be able to pass thru! Eso's are not as happy about change as intestines (not that they're delighted). They don't negotiate. So, ???
   — vitalady

June 25, 2004
I see that others have posted similar answers to what I came here to do.. but I'll add my vote. The various surgeries, and deciding which is right for you, requires that you decide what your top most important features/issues are. If it is a high priority for you to have minimal invasion, minimal cutting, and possibly full reversibility should a problem arise in the future, then the NonAdjustable Band(I have this) or the Adjustable (Lap) Band may be right for you. These are the two least invasive surgeries that I know of. Both have a similar recovery time of basically less than a week - though normal surgery warnings apply.. like no heavy lifting for six weeks etc. Let me know if you would like help researching the choices. Paula
   — Paula R.

June 25, 2004
By definition, a 'gastric bypass' invloves re-routing some part of the small intestine. There's absolutely NO reason the esophagus should be involved in any form of WLS. Perhaps your cousin had the DS, in which the stomach is made smaller, and the pyloric valve---the normal emptying port of the stomach---remains intact. Even so, there's still an intestinal re-routing, to provide malabsorption.
   — MsBatt