Gastric bypass and the pancreas

Question
What is the commonality of hitting the pancreas during gastric bypass surgery? My wife had gastric bypass revision back in Feb. and the surgeon hit her pancreas. She has been in ICU ever since then. At times I am encouraged by her results and others I am not. Any information that you can provide I would appreciate it.

Answer
Hi Walter:

I'm very sorry to hear about your wife.  I will keep her and you in my prayers during this difficult time.

I searched on PubMed and a few other sites and did not find anything that mentioned nicking the pancreas.  You might want to ask the surgeon who answers questions on this site to see if he has any data.

In general, however, serious surgical complication rates for the Lap-RNY tend to depend on hospital volume.  Lower volume hospitals had a surgical complication rate of around 4%.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100727162904.htm


Sorry I can't be of more help,
Karla

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