Why is "unused" stomach and small intestines left in, in gastric bypass

[Katariina 35]

I asked this question from my surgeon and got no answer so I am asking again: why is it that the "left over part of your stomach in removed in gastric sleeve but the same exact part is left in your body when it is is not used for anything in gastric bypass? The same goes with the part of the small intestines that are no longer used. Why is it left in the body? Doesn't it carry a risk for infection when we leave in our body something that is not used for anything in our body? What if there are still some food particles in the part f the intestine that is left there?

[insul817 49]

I'm not sure about the intestines, but my doc said the stomach juices will help with digestion. Good point though, I'm going to ask again when I see him next month.

[James Marusek 5,244]

From my understanding, gastric bypass surgery is reversible. Therefore the unused part of the stomach can be reattached to the small pouch and you can be made whole again. Also the unused part of the stomach produces hormones that the body uses and that is why it is left there.

[Katariina 35]

According to my knowledge this surgery cannot be reversed. ALso, most of the hormones in this unused area are there to make you feel hungrier, so I can certainly live without them. If they were that significant, then why would they remove this section is sleeve. So confused..

[erica2185 84]

According to my knowledge this surgery cannot be reversed. ALso, most of the hormones in this unused area are there to make you feel hungrier, so I can certainly live without them. If they were that significant, then why would they remove this section is sleeve. So confused..

Gastric bypass is reversible the sleeve is not.

Sent from my HTC Desire 530 using BariatricPal mobile app

[erica2185 84]

According to my knowledge this surgery cannot be reversed. ALso, most of the hormones in this unused area are there to make you feel hungrier, so I can certainly live without them. If they were that significant, then why would they remove this section is sleeve. So confused..

Coming from someone who has the bypass and during my regret staged looked into getting a reversal lol

Sent from my HTC Desire 530 using BariatricPal mobile app

[Katariina 35]

According to the references I found, gastric bypass can be reversed for medical reasons alone and even in those cases the risks are very high. See e.g.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/02/can_bariatric_surgery_be_reversed.html

Thus, I believe that the doctors don't leave the unused parts there for the possibility of reversing it. The reasons must be something else. Those of you who are still planning, please ask your docs, I would really love to know.

[jhope71 105]

The unused part of the stomach still produces acid and stuff to help digest food. It reconnects down lower in your intestines to help digest the food that goes through your pouch. And like others said, it still produces hormones, though I'm not sure that's the main reason it's left. I think it's there to improve digestion, since your pouch alone doesn't make enough acid to do the job. That's the way my surgeon explained it, at least.

[Katariina 35]

Hmm that makes sense although it still makes me wonder why is removed in sleeve then..

[SleeveDreamer 383]

10 hours ago, jhope71 said:

The unused part of the stomach still produces acid and stuff to help digest food. It reconnects down lower in your intestines to help digest the food that goes through your pouch. And like others said, it still produces hormones, though I'm not sure that's the main reason it's left. I think it's there to improve digestion, since your pouch alone doesn't make enough acid to do the job. That's the way my surgeon explained it, at least.

This is also the way it was explained to me.

[SleeveDreamer 383]

14 minutes ago, Katariina said:

Hmm that makes sense although it still makes me wonder why is removed in sleeve then..

In the sleeve, part of your stomach is cut off and removed.

[travelergirl 142]

I don't know why...good question. I specifically went for the sleeve because it did remove part of the stomach and left the rest in tact. I can get an endoscopy and still get everything checked. My gastroenterologist said that with the bypass they may have to do a surgery to go in and look at the remaining stomach etc...if there were any concerns about cancer etc... That convinced me that sleeve was the way to go.

Sent from my SM-G920V using BariatricPal mobile app

[redhead86 1]

I don't know why...good question. I specifically went for the sleeve because it did remove part of the stomach and left the rest in tact. I can get an endoscopy and still get everything checked. My gastroenterologist said that with the bypass they may have to do a surgery to go in and look at the remaining stomach etc...if there were any concerns about cancer etc... That convinced me that sleeve was the way to go.

Sent from my SM-G920V using BariatricPal mobile app

You can still have an endoscopy with a bypass. I've just had one myself [emoji16]

[janedb 14]

With the bypass you can a feeding tube places in the “old” stomach if you ever need urgent support with eating issues. With the sleeve you have enough stomach left they can use a regular feeding tube.

[Mhy12784 423]

6 hours ago, redhead86 said:

You can still have an endoscopy with a bypass. I've just had one myself

Yes but it's different with the bypass your anatomy is reconfigured so it's not in a natural state. Meaning if you had complications down the road and went to someone who wasn't a bariatric surgeon (or your surgeon even) they could easily get confused and end up looking in the new stomach or remnant of the old. That's why ulcers are incredibly dangerous in bypass patients, as they can be difficult to find and identify, and could lead to major complications (which I've personally seen before).

With the sleeve all of the anatomy is left intact in its natural state, just the stomach is reduced