Most Common Reasons for Gastric Bypass Complications

The most common reasons for readmission and corrective surgery after gastric bypass surgery operations are complications of the stomach staple line or the outlet of the pouch. Leakage, perforation, or bleeding may occur at the operation site if the stomach staples move or become loose because of over-stretching of the new stomach staple pouch. An emergency operation is required to correct this.

Staple line failures occur in about 15% of gastric bypass surgery operations.


Other possible gastric bypass surgery complications that may require readmission to hospital and additional surgery are the formation of an ulcer or stricture or failure of the stomach staple line to heal properly.
Some patients report experiencing hair loss following bariatric surgery and occasional nail (brittleness, poor growth and scaling) and skin problems. These are almost always due to mineral and vitamin deficiencies associated with bariatric surgery. Bad breath resulting from ketosis, the process by which your body breaks down and generated energy from fat, can also occur in a minority of patients following weight loss surgery.
The success of any weight loss surgery operation is a combination of the procedure itself and the patient’s compliance with the guidelines they should follow after bariatric surgery to protect their newly adapted digestive system. There is a risk of complication and side effects with any operation (anesthesia, infection etc). The surgeon can only do their best to prevent these from occurring.

In addition to these more standard surgical complications however, side-effects and complications following weight loss surgery that are due to stomach staple line failure and blockage of the opening from the pouch to the stomach or stomach to intestine are because of eating too much too soon, over-eating after healing or consuming poorly chewed or incorrect foods. This division between gastric bypass surgery and patient-associated risk factors and complications with bariatric surgery is a very important one to keep in mind.

Of course, the very best way to avoid all of these complications is to simply choose a reliable and tested gastric bypass surgery alternative.