How Does Bariatric Surgery Work?
Simple Principles of the Digestive Tract
After chewing food, it travels down the esophagus and into the stomach. Naturally, when the stomach wall distends from eating food, sensation of fullness is experienced giving signals to the brain to stop eating. The food then goes into the small bowel.
Once in the small bowel, secretions from the stomach, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas mix with the food to help in the digestion and breaking apart of the food. Only after food mixes with these digestive juices is it broken down. At this point, calories from the food are absorbed throughout the length of the small bowel.
Waste that is left over from digestion eventually goes into the colon where it finally leaves the body through the rectum as stool.
Two Main Principles of How Bariatric Surgery Works
Various bariatric procedures will use either one or both of the following methods to help people lose weight.
The first principle is termed restriction. During some procedures, a small stomach pouch is created. After surgery, when people eat, stomach holds less food before distention occurs, therefore feel full quicker. They also will feel less hungry the longer this pouch stays distended. Generally, people will eat less because of the pouch, take in less calories to be absorbed, and ultimately lose weight.
The second principle is termed malabsorption. During some of the procedures, the small bowel is bypassed delaying the mixing of the digestive juices and food. When they finally mix, the length of small bowel effectively absorbing calories is shorter. Less calories being absorbed therefore people lose the weight.
All bariatric procedures have a degree of restriction, but only the gastric bypass and biliopancreatic duodenal switch utilizes malabsorption also.
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