Revisional Bariatric surgery is typically indicated for those who have had insufficient weight loss, weight regain or complications of their initial procedure. This occurs in 5-15% of patients.

The causes are multiple, either enlargement of the gastric pouch in a band or bypass, or dilation of the stomach following a sleeve gastrectomy. These allow increased food volume consumption thus negating the restrictive component of the procedure. Other causes are complications such as uncontrolled reflux with a gastric band or sleeve gastrectomy, or gastric band erosion/slippage.

The most common revisional procedure is changing from a gastric band to either a sleeve gastrectomy or roux-en-y gastric bypass.

The revisional procedure is dependent on what the cause of the initial procedure to fail, and a discussion of the benefits and risks of revisional surgery options.

Revisional surgery is technically more challenging, and generally takes a longer operative time, as scar tissue needs to be dissected away to enable the operation to be completed safely. Occasionally, the scar tissue is too dense to allow the operation to continue.

Dr Rothwell has extensive experience during his training and practice of revisional surgery and what is involved in order to perform it safely and get the outcomes desired.

If you would like to discuss options further, please make an appointment to see Dr Rothwell.