Learn About Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass

Find out why it is so important to only use a surgeon well-schooled in advanced laparoscopic surgery. Watch this amazing video showing how Dr. Katkhouda performs laparoscopic gastric bypass.



Dr. Katkhouda does not do "stomach stapling" but uses suturing, which he considers more reliable. If you are considering a minimally invasive roux en y bariatric surgery, the ability of your laparoscopic surgeon cannot be over emphasized. The following information will show you the need for this qualification.

Gastric Bypass is now being done laparoscopically by bariatric surgeons without previous experience in advanced laproscopic surgery. Laparoscopy is a specialty in itself and a laparoscopic surgeon must master a whole repertoire of laparoscopic surgical cases including nissen fundoplication, splenectomy, adrenalectomy to become a certified laparoscopic surgeon. Furthermore, the lack of suturing skills can lead to the desire to use staples in situations where suturing would be more appropriate. These basic considerations make it very important to choose a surgeon well schooled in laparoscopic techniques.

With gastric bypass surgery, there is concern about the growing leakage rate due to technical imperfections. Few surgeons are candid about their complications rates. The surgeons at USC will always tell their patients the truth about the results of former surgeries. Some of the key components of the program for Gastric Bypass are:

    1- The environment in which those procedures are done is one of a university setting where the anesthesiologists are all professors and used to tackling the most difficult procedures from open hearts to cardiac and liver transplants.

   2- The laparoscopic team includes a very experienced advanced laparoscopic surgeon with more than 12 years of experience in advanced laparoscopic surgery assisted by fully trained surgeons who are fellows in laparoscopic surgery.  Dr. Katkhouda and his staff aim therefore to provide patients who suffer from morbid obesity an environment that combines compassionate care with cutting edge state of the art technology. "Quoted from USC Health Magazine" - Dr. Katkhouda continues:

“This is an incredible surgery on the complexity scale of laparoscopic procedures,” says Katkhouda. He is a leader in the field of laparoscopy, pioneering the technique in operations and teaching other surgeons. He has written books and designed instruments used in the procedures. In the laparoscopic bariatric procedure for weight loss surgery, Dr.Katkhouda performs a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. He makes five small incisions and threads a tiny camera into the abdomen. He inserts long tools through tubes placed into the incisions, and watches the organs on a screen as he operates. Katkhouda creates a 150 cm segment of the small intestine and sutures it to the tiny gastric pouch that he creates using laparoscopic techniques The small intestine absorbs nutrients from food, but with less intestine, the body absorbs fewer calories. He resects much of the stomach, leaving it a small pouch about the size of a plum and sealing it with tiny sutures before reconnecting it with the intestine. That restricts food intake. Katkhouda is excited about the surgery’s potential but warns that only surgeons with proven laproscopic skills should perform the surgery. He expects that in the coming years, surgeons will offer weight loss solutions to morbidly obese patients tailored to their unique needs. For now, he will continue to perform the laparoscopic Roux-en-Y, but does not exclude—with improvement of the technique and instrumentation—that the duodenal switch could be offered laparoscopically. “In the coming years, there will be an operation for each situation,” Katkhouda says. Understanding each patient’s history and eating habits—whether sweet-eater, snacker or binge eater, for example—can guide choices. Katkhouda agrees with his colleagues that obesity treatment does not end when the patient leaves the hospital. “These patients have a radical change in their lives,” Katkhouda observes. “Without food for comfort, depression sets in. Support groups and nutritional counseling are key.“

A candidate for Gastric Bypass surgery should ideally be in "top medical condition". Or have whatever existing conditions that may be directly related to their weight under control. Potential patients with high blood pressure or diabetes should be under control with medication, should not smoke and any other conditions that exist would have to be fully evaluated before surgery.

"Failed non operative approaches" means that before a patient undergoes surgery they should be knowledgeable about nutritional issues, and that they should have tried and failed reasonable diet and exercise approaches to weight
loss.

"Psychologically stable" means that a patient's psychological status be optimized. Any problems in this area should
be diagnosed and under appropriate treatment before surgery.

Dr. Katkhouda has performed over 1,500  gastric bypass procedures with 100% success rate. You can get more gastric bypass information by contacting the Doctor.