DUODENAL SWITCH – A Powerful and Permanent Weight Loss Surgery

Duodenal Switch is a successful weight loss surgical procedure that is an alternative to traditional gastric bypass surgeries.  In typical bypass surgeries, the stomach is divided and a small pouch is created forming a new stomach that is attached to the small intestine.  With this surgery, approximately 75% of the stomach is removed.  The new stomach is about 25% of its original size allowing the patient to eat smaller amounts of food and still feel full.  The small intestine is readjusted so that the food traveling from the small stomach does not interact with the section that contains the digestive juices until much further down in the intestines.  This process diminishes the quantity of calories that are absorbed into the body.  Gastric Bypass surgeries can be reduced or repaired if necessary.  However Duodenal Switch surgery is permanent.

During Duodenal Switch surgery, about ¾ of the stomach is removed and the stomach that remains resembles the shape of a banana and will hold between four to seven ounces of food at a time.  This new and smaller stomach allows the patient to consume less food and the bypass feature keeps the food from being absorbed in the stomach.  The combination of these two factors helps to sustain the weight loss for years after the surgery is performed.  The stomach nerves stay intact to ensure that the stomach will continue to function as it did in the past, but it will be much smaller in size.

There are several advantages to choosing the Duodenal Switch surgery for weight loss.  Since the original stomach is still the same, only much smaller, you can eat more varieties and textures of food.  This surgery also reduces the risks of developing stomach ulcers.  This surgery is very successful for those patients that are very morbidly obese with a BMI index that is greater than 55%.  There are disadvantages to this surgery as well.  Some patients have reported experiencing chronic diarrhea and foul smelling bowel movements.  Because this surgery is more complicated than other weight loss surgeries, it is not recommended for patients that have heart conditions and sleep apnea.  And, every surgery has the risks of blood clots, pneumonia, infections and postoperative bleeding.

There are many different weight loss surgical options for patients to treat obesity.  The Duodenal Switch procedure is proven to be the most effective.  However, this surgery also has more complications than the other procedures.  It is important to check with your insurance company to verify that they will approve this procedure.  Please contact us for additional details.