Long-term Complications of Bariatric Surgeries

October 24th, 2008 | admin | Fat and Weight Loss Guest Articles

Bariatric surgery has helped thousands of people who are obese to lose the excess weight and keep it off- thus improving their overall health. Bariatric surgeries, such as gastric bypass and lap-band surgeries decrease the size of the stomach, making people feel fuller and preventing them from overeating. Along with losing a great deal of weight, these people almost always experience improved general health- lower cholestoral, lower blood pressure, less frequent type II diabetes, healthier bones and joints and many other health benefits.

However, there are sometimes drawbacks to bariatric surgery. Some of the complications from these surgeries are short-term and easily fixed, but there are a few long-term complications that require long-term treatment.

One of the long-term complications is non-insulinoma pancreatogenous hypoglycemia (NIPHS), or post-bariatric surgery hypoglycemia. Despite the long title, this complication is quite easy to understand; hypoglycemia occurs when the pancreas puts out too much insulin. For most people who have hypoglycemia, the treatment consists of dietary guidelines like eating several small meals with very little processed sugar. However, that treatment doesn’t always work for people who’ve had bariatric surgery. In some instances doctors have removed a small part of the pancreas in order to keep the insulin low, and this is working effectively.

The other long-term complication is poor absorption of certain vitamins and minerals. For example, there is often a B12 deficiency. This results in anemia and neurologic complications. Sometimes changes in the absorption of calcium and oxilate result in kidney stone disease. Due to vitamin D deficiency, some people experience bone disease. Doctors will test for the deficiencies and others, and if they are present, the doctors will generally prescribe supplements.