Gastric bypass is a type of weight loss surgery which reduces the size of your stomach to reduce your risk of health problems related to obesity. This type of bariatric surgery is conducted on individuals who have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater, or have a BMI between 35 and 39.9 who also have serious medical conditions, including diabetes and hypertension.
Gastric bypass surgery doesn’t provide fool-proof insurance that you’ll lose all of your excess pounds or that you will keep your weight off over the long term. If you do regain some or all the weight you lost after gastric bypass surgery, your Salt Lake City doctor will first determine the cause for your weight regain. For instance, your stomach and intestine may have undergone natural changes which enable you to eat more and consume more calories. It’s also possible that your exercise and dietary habits may have waned, causing you to gain the weight back.
In some cases, another weight loss surgery may be considered if you regained weight after your gastric bypass. However, a second surgery gastric bypass repair has increased risks of side effects and complications, including bleeding, leaks in the gastrointestinal tract, and infection. For this reason, gastric bypass surgery is rarely redone if you gained the weight back due to poor eating habits or lack of exercise; insurance is unlikely to cover a gastric bypass surgery repair done for these reasons.
That said, gastric bypass surgery is an effective treatment for obese people needing to lose weight, and most individuals lose weight after this bariatric surgery procedure. Nonetheless, without lifestyle changes after surgery weight regain can occur even years later.