Gastric bypass for morbid obesity.

The gastric bypass operation is designed to decrease the size of the food receptacle so that a limited number of calories can be ingested. All food ingested is absorbed normally, thus eliminating problems that mey be associated with metabolic derangements. Although it is possible to overeat the gastric pouch, the overall result of gastric bypass, in terms of weight loss, is quite satisfactory, and the mortality rate of less than 2 per cent and the morbidity rate of less than 20 per cent are also acceptable. Late complications following gastric bypass are low: specifically, nephrolithiasis is eight to 10 times less frequent than after jejunoileal bypass. Liver disease has not been seen following gastric bypass.