Bariatric Surgery: Does A Band Procedure Have A Nutrition Absorption Advantage Over Gastric Bypass Surgery? - Dr. Johnell

Dr. Johnell:
One of the issues that bariatric surgical patients deal with after a malabsorptive type procedure like a gastric bypass operation are the micronutrient deficiencies that needed to be followed very carefully.

Those could be vitamin D and calcium and B12 and iron and folate deficiencies that can cause various medical problems.

These medical problems can be serious and patients need to follow up with their physicians on a regular basis to make sure that they don’t develop those medical problems.

The banding procedures have an advantage over these kinds of malabsorptive operations in that there is no malabsorption associated with the banding procedure.

In either case we do ask our patients to take multivitamins on a regular basis and we do measure those same micronutrient levels on a yearly basis in the office.

However, it is very rare for a banding patient to develop serious iron deficiency or B12 deficiency or deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D due to malabsorptive issues.

That’s one of the major advantages to a purely restrictive operation like the adjustable gastric banding operation.

About Dr. Michael W. Johnell, M.D., F.A.C.S.:
Dr. Johnell is an advanced laparoscopic bariatric surgeon, specializing in the Adjustable Gastric Band procedure. Bariatric surgery constitutes 98 percent of his practice. He has 22 years of general surgery experience, 17 years of advanced laparoscopic surgery experience, and 7 years of laparoscopic bariatric surgery experience.

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