Our Gastric Bypass Surgery Outcomes

Our Gastric Bypass Weight Loss Results

Our Gastric Bypass patients average 76% excess weight loss (EWL) 1 year after surgery, 75% EWL 3 years after surgery, and 72% EWL 8 years after surgery (see table below). Our results compare favorably to the best published Gastric Bypass outcomes studies, which generally show about 70% EWL at 1-3 years after surgery, and about 50-60% EWL at 5+ years after surgery.

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Weight Loss after Surgery	Our Results (1000+ patients)
Excess Weight Loss - 3 months	39%
Excess Weight Loss - 6 months	57%
Excess Weight Loss - 12 months	76%
Excess Weight Loss - 18 months	78%
Excess Weight Loss - 2 years	79%
Excess Weight Loss - 3 years	75%
Excess Weight Loss - 5 years	70%
Excess Weight Loss - 8 years	72%

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Remember, the weight loss results discussed on this page are averages - individual patients can lose more or less weight than the average (see section below).

Calculating Excess Weight Loss after Gastric Bypass

Excess weight is the amount of weight over ideal weight. Ideal weights are published in the Metropolitan Life Insurance height-weight tables. These tables display weight ranges for small, medium, and large frame sizes. Ideal weight is considered to be the middle weight in the medium frame size range. To calculate the percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) divide weight lost by maximum excess weight and multiply by 100. The tables include one inch of height for shoes, so one inch needs to be added to actual height to see the correct weight range.

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Achieving Long-Term Weight Loss Success

Weight loss after Gastric Bypass Surgery typically occurs rapidly over 1-1.5 years. Studies show that most patients initially lose a substantial amount of weight (average about 70% EWL). Studies on long-term weight loss results (5+ years) show more variability, with some patients maintaining weight loss and some patients regaining at least some weight.

Long-term weight loss success after Gastric Bypass Surgery requires patients to maintain appropriate eating and exercise habits over time. The Gastric Bypass operation helps patients to eat much smaller portions of food and feel satisfied, but it does not make patients have good eating habits or exercise. Those who establish appropriate eating/exercise habits after surgery lose more weight and maintain their weight loss better than those who don't.

Our Orange County Gastric Bypass Program focuses on two things: (1) providing quality surgery to give patients a safe and highly effective tool for weight loss, and (2) providing education, follow-up, and support to help our patients establish the eating and exercise habits that will result in long-term weight loss success. The result of this focus has been a long record of excellent weight loss results as described above.

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Impact of Gastric Bypass on Medical Problems

Many medical problems are associated with obesity. Examples include diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, hyperlipidemia, joint pain and arthritis, heartburn, asthma, depression, infertility, urinary stress incontinence, lower extremity swelling and headaches. Studies show that all weight related medical problems tend to either resolve or improve with weight loss after Gastric Bypass Surgery.

The response of medical conditions to Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass in our patients is shown in the table below.

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Medical Condition	Resolved	Improved	Unchanged or Worse
Diabetes	73%	27%	0%
Sleep Apnea	92%	6%	2%
Hypertension	71%	20%	9%
Hyperlipidemia	73%	27%	0%
Joint Pains	59%	32%	9%
GERD	95%	2%	2%
Depression	38%	23%	38%
Asthma	62%	29%	10%

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Perhaps most striking is the effect of Gastric Bypass Surgery on diabetes. Multiple studies have shown that remission of type 2 diabetes occurs in the majority of patients after Gastric Bypass Surgery. Usually blood sugars normalize within days of surgery, allowing patients to stop their diabetes medications before they are discharged from the hospital. Of our patients with Type 2 Diabetes, 73% were able to discontinue all diabetes medications and maintain normal blood sugars.

PLAY VIDEO 60 Minutes segment on the impact Gastric Bypass Surgery has on diabetes

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Our Gastric Bypass Complication Rates

Gastric Bypass is major surgery with the potential for complications. We pride ourselves on achieving complication rates that are lower than the published benchmark rates (see table below).

Major Complications
Major complications are complications that can result in death or require a significantly prolonged hospital stay or another operation. They generally occur within 30 days of surgery. The two most feared complications following Gastric Bypass Surgery are leak and pulmonary embolism. Bowel obstructions and bleeding may result in the need for a repeat operation but are generally less feared than leak and pulmonary embolism.

See the table below for our major complication rates. Note our mortality and leak rates are lower than the published benchmarks.

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Major Complications	Our Results (1000+ patients)	Other Good Studies
Leak	0%	1%
Pulmonary Embolism	0.5%	0-2%
Internal Hernia	2.7%	1-3.8%
Reoperation within 1 month	1.6%	2.5-7.6%
Bleeding requiring Reoperation	0.5%	0-1.3%

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The results reported in the right column above were taken from published studies done by experienced laparoscopic surgeons with low complication rates.

It is important to understand that complication rates are related to surgeon skill and experience. Some surgeons report much higher complication rates than other surgeons. With Gastric Bypass Surgery in particular, meticulous surgical technique and attention to the small details are important to minimize complications.

Other Complications (Minor and Late)
Other complications that can occur after Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass Surgery tend to be less serious. Examples include bleeding not requiring an operation, strictures, ulcers, wound infections, dehydration, nausea, urinary tract infections, gallstones, and nutritional deficiencies.