Mini Gastric Bypass
The concept of the mini gastric bypass is quite intriguing as there are several variants created to mimic traditional Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The mini gastric bypass is popularized mostly by Dr. Rutledge, who in his own series, reports that the mini gastric bypass is safer with similar weight loss. Dr. Rutledge creates a 70 ounce small stomach pouch such as that seen in figure 1. Compared to the traditional Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, Rutledge’s pouch is longer and serves as a greater sized reservoir for food such that patients can eat more than they can compared to the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. As a result of the different type of pouch in the mini-gastric bypass, the bypass portion is fashioned differently where a segment of small intestine is brought up to the end of the pouch and as such you really do not have a Roux-en-Y.
The mini-gastric bypass popularized by Dr. Rutledge is not recognized by most insurance companies for payment and is still considered experimental and the results that he is demonstrated are not reproducible by most surgeons and as a result. Presently, Texas Bariatric Surgeons nor any specialized group in San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi offers the mini gastric bypass procedure.
However, when you objectively consider a Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass versus a mini gastric bypass, you need to consider that the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is a time-tested with 100% endorsement of the national surgical community. As a result it is still considered the gold standard amongst weight-loss surgeries performed in the United States and the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass remains the most prevalent procedure in United States.
While surgical results and techniques vary from surgeon to surgeon, Texas Bariatric Specialists are able to complete a laparoscopic gastric bypass with a minimally invasive approach in 30 to 45 minutes, with a 2 night hospital stay and this procedure is 90% of the time preauthorized through insurance companies. The laparoscopic gastric bypass remains the hallmark of our practice and Dr. Patel serves as a national preceptor for gastric bypass surgery. Figure 2 demonstrates a movie about Rutledge and the mini gastric bypass taken from his website.