Gastric Bypass Complications
Gastric Bypass Complication Rates Are Significant In The Post Operative Period
As obesity continues to rise gastric bypass surgery is helping thousands of morbidly obese men and women to reduce their risk from diabetes and other life-threatening conditions, as well as to regain much of their former lifestyle. However, complications from gastric bypass surgery (in which a new small stomach pouch is created and part of the intestine is bypassed) are significant and need to be considered carefully before embarking on surgery.
Many studies have been done on gastric bypass complications in the short-term, following the progress of patients for up to 30 days after surgery. However, a more recent study (based on claims for both hospital care and outpatient care for some 5.6 million individuals enrolled in employer sponsored health plans across 49 states and including more than 2,500 bariatric patients) has extend previous studies to look in detail at complications arising up to 6 months after surgery.
The first thing that this study did was to confirm the much quoted figure of 40% as the overall gastric bypass complication rate. To most people this figure will seem alarmingly high but, as we have seen in a previous article "Is The Gastric Bypass Risk Figure Of 40% Accurate?", while this figure may be factually accurate it is arguable whether or not some of the risks included in the findings are truly significant.
The study found that the most commonly seen complications were dumping syndrome (including vomiting, reflux and diarrhea) which occurred in 20% of cases, anastomosis problems (problems such as leakage or stricture arising from the joint between the stomach and the intestine) which occurred in 12% of cases, abdominal hernias occurring in 7% of cases, infections arising in 6% of cases and pneumonia seen in 4% of patients. It was also noted that death occurred during, or in the 6 months following, surgery in only 0.2% of patients.
When comparing the often studied 30 day post-operative period and the 6 month post-operative period it was found that just over 10% or patients who survived the first 30 days without complication went on to experience a problem in the following 5 months.
In most cases these were problems of dumping, abdominal hernia, anastomosis problems and marginal ulcers. It was also noted that, while just under 5% of patients needed to be re-admitted during the 30 day period, this figure rose to just over 7% when considering the longer 6 month timescale.
These problems can perhaps be said to arise as the result of the procedure itself, whether this is roux-en-y gastric bypass surgery or other weight loss operations such as a gastric sleeve (with or without a duodenal switch) or other modern forms of surgery which are not strictly a form of gastric bypass such as lap band surgery. These complications are thus to a certain extent dependent upon the expertise of your surgeon and members of your surgical team and also dependent upon just where you choose to have your surgery.
In addition however there are also a variety of complications of gastric bypass surgery which will arise out of your post-operative diet and the food which you eat. This is a critical area as it is very easy to suffer such things as vitamin and mineral deficiencies, with many patients suffering from such things as iron and calcium deficiencies. Anemia (a deficiency of red blood cells) is also a problem for many people after surgery. Getting your diet right is extremely important and you will need to seek dietary information from your medical center, as well as their advice on the need for adding supplements into your diet.
The cost of gastric bypass surgery was also significantly affected by complications.
For patients undergoing surgery without complication the average cost was just over $25,000 but complications within the 6 month post-surgical period increased this figure to just over $36,500. However, in cases where patients had to be re-admitted to hospital as a result of gastric bypass complications the cost rose to just over $65,000.
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