Gastric Bypass surgery has gained popularity in recent year. Overweight people who have tried many forms of weight loss with no success will often use this surgery as a last result to remove dangerous pounds. Weight loss procedures like gastric bypass, LAP Band, gastric banding, and sleeve gastrectomy are considered elective surgeries and despite their common occurrences, they still carry a risk for death and/or serious injury should something go wrong.
While all of these elective weight loss surgeries are fairly commonplace, gastric bypass is the most common. The procedure can be minimally evasive with only short recovery time needed. Doctors take a loop of bowel and bypass a large section of the stomach. Using a smaller pouch of stomach leaves the patient feeling fuller with smaller portions and increases weight loss.
There are several different types of gastric bypass surgery options. These include:
• Open Roux en Y (Rny) (Restrictive with some Malabsorption)
• BilioPancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch
• Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y
• Biliopancreatic Diversion (BPG)
• Fobi Pouch (Restrictive with Malabsorption)
• Distal Gastric Bypass (Restrictive with greater Malabsorption)
The surgery involves separating the stomach into two separate parts and attaching the smaller of the two to the small intestines. Bypassing some of the stomach and intestines reduces the amount of calories taken in by the body.
The risk of death or serious injury from gastric bypass or one of the other weight loss surgeries is low. However, there is always a risk. Mistakes, accidents and miscalculations occur. Patients with this type of procedure often fall victim to illnesses like gallstones, hernia, blood clot and infection. Patients have also reported some trouble with malnutrition, bowel obstruction and vomiting.
All of these possible maladies could be caused by medical malpractice during the surgery and treatment. Leaks in the stomach that lead into the abdominal cavity, gastrointestinal leaks and problems with anesthesia are all common issues of malpractice during a weight loss surgery that lead to death or serious injury.
There are several signs that malpractice has occurred during gastric bypass surgery:
• Doctor failed to react immediately to complaints about concerns and problems after surgery
• Post-operative leaking that caused in septicity
• Experiencing extreme discomfort after the surgery
• Adverse effects of serious complications like clotting, difficulty breathing, and/or kidney problems.
• Doctor did not monitor post-operative recovery
Anesthesia issues are often found in medical malpractice cases where a weight loss surgery is involved. One mistake often seen in these types of surgeries is using an anesthetist who is not anesthesiologist. An anesthesiologist is a medical doctor who has been specifically trained to administer anesthesia. They are familiar with the process and all the dangers that accompany it. Should a medical emergency occur they are capable of dealing with it knowledgably.
An anesthetist is a nurse who has attained certification in anesthesia administration. While they are learned in the techniques, they are not as knowledgeable as their highly educated counterparts, anesthesiologist. There may be a medical emergency that an anesthetist cannot successfully tackle. Without proper education and experience a patient can easily die or experience serious injury under anesthesia during gastric bypass surgery.
A medical malpractice case can also stem from having gastric bypass surgery in a doctor’s office or clinic as opposed to in a hospital. This can be disastrous in a medical emergency. Non-hospital setting will not have the resources allotted to a hospital. Resources such as medical equipment, nurses and emergency surgeons can mean the difference between life and death in a medical emergency.
Moseley Collins is a Christian attorney with years of experience in medical malpractice lawsuits. He understands the pain and suffering involved and the costs both financial and emotional.