All surgery has potential complications including:
Bleeding needing a blood transfusion. We anticipate this risk to be very low.
Infection. You will be given an antibiotic prior to surgery to decrease this risk.
Trouble with healing. This can range from a minor problem with a stitch not healing in properly, to a major problem with a suture line leak that requires a second operation.
Problems with anesthesia (heart problems or lung problems).
Blood clots that may require long term blood thinning medications. All patients receive a dose of blood thinning medication prior to surgery and a leg pump apparatus during surgery to decrease this risk.
Death is always a risk of any operation and the risk is estimated at 1 in 10,000 for any operation. Operations on morbid obese patients may be as high as 2 in 100.
Long-term complications that are possible specific to this type of surgery are:
Failure to loose weight.
Stomach ulcers.
Difficulty adjusting to small meals.
Vitamin loss.
Gallbladder problems from weight loss.
Bone density loss.
Dumping Syndrome.
Of course, our hopes are that you will have no complications. You will be carefully monitored for any potential complications.
