A brief history of bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery has gained popularity in recent years as an alternative to weight loss diets. More and more people are using this procedure to reduce their excess weight. The history of bariatric surgery dates back to the 1950s. Many innovations and improvements have been made to make the procedure safer.

The first bariatric surgery was performed in 1954, by a surgeon named A. J. Kremen. This procedure was called an intestinal bypass. The upper and lower regions of the small intestine are joined together to avoid the midsection, where most of the food absorption takes place. The idea was to decrease the amount of food processed by the intestine so that the body absorbs fewer calories. A similar procedure was developed by a Swedish doctor at approximately the same time. Here, the redundant portion of the small intestine was removed. Surgeons have also tried many more methods to avoid digestive and absorption sections. However, the patients in whom the surgeries were performed developed complications such as dehydration, diarrhea, and electrolyte imbalance. Therefore, intestinal modification was abandoned, and safer bariatric surgeries involving the stomach were introduced to eliminate previous complications.

The gastric bypass was developed in 1966 by Dr. Edward E. Mason of the University of Iowa. He used surgical staples to create a partition in the upper part of the stomach. This partition reduces food intake. The bag that is created gives patients a feeling of fullness, even when they eat a small amount of food. The procedure was called vertical band gastroplasty. Although there were complications in the initial procedure, more adjustments were made; the pouch created by stapling the upper part of the stomach was reduced in size to further reduce food intake, and rubber bands were later used in place of staples. Although this method is effective initially, the band tends to stretch after a few years. This form of bariatric surgery, therefore, failed to gain great popularity.

A subsequent innovation in the field of Bariatric surgerywas Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, which combines the principles of gastric restrictions and dumping syndrome. Here, the surgeon creates a bag by stapling the upper part of the stomach and attaching it to the small intestine. The small pouch, about the size of a thumb, causes reduced food intake and less food digestion. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass has gained popularity due to the relatively few complications involved. Many different types of bariatric surgeries developed later. Currently, there are eight different types of bariatric surgery performed at most cutting-edge hospitals in the United States.