Expert: John Pilcher, MD - 8/17/2011

Question
Dr.Pilcher I started looking into bariatric surgery some years ago and was quickly dterred from bypass surgery when it was explained to me that the intestines was rerouted causing malabsorption problems. Then last year when my weight was really causing me problems I again began to consider gastric bypass but again the idea of rerouting everythijng quickly put that thought to rest but I was introduced to the Gastric Sleeve I researched it watched the procedure performed and was quite comfortable with the decision to have the sleeve myself.After almost a year of preparation I went to the hospital on April 18th of this year to have the sleeve procedure however I woke to find that instead of a gastric sleeve the doctor had performed a gastric bypass.I was told by the surgeon that when he got into the procedure he found the top of my stomach was abnormaly narrow so he had to abandon the sleeve and go with the bypass.My question to you is could he not have backed out and abandoned the entire surgery or is there no turning back once the surgery has begun?I'm having lots of complications with the surgery and have been hospitalized 3 times due to the complications I  just feel like the decision to change the procedure should have been mine or my families not the surgeon.

Answer
Pollie,
I'm certainly sympathetic with your situation, especially since you thought about your choice carefully and then ended up with the gastric bypass that you did not feel comfortable with.

I'm not able to say much about the situation facing your surgeon during the operation since I was not there, but in truth it can be the case that there can be a situation where surgery has been started and it is then not surgically practical to complete the operation on the original plan.  I have not personally encountered a situation where the stomach was too narrow at the beginning of the operation, but I can imagine that it could happen while the surgeon is trying to form a nice narrow sleeve for the best weight loss.

I'm not sure what problems you are experiencing at this time, but I can reassure you that the gastric bypass is a very resilient and durable operation and the odds are very good that you will feel better and be healthy in the long run.

I hope this is helpful -  best of luck!

Dr JP