The intervention consists in reducing, by laparoscopy, the volume of the stomach and modifying the food circuit. This technique consists in making a vertical trans-section of the stomach creating a proximal pocket of restricted capacity in which the food arrives, connected directly to the jejunum (by a Y-shaped handle).
Food does not pass through the stomach and the upper part of the digestive tract, it goes directly into the middle part of the small intestine.
Gastric short circuit acts by several mechanisms that combine:
- A restriction (such as gastroplasty).
- Malabsorption (foods and nutrients are less digested).
- A syndrome of dumping (ingestion of highly sugary foods in large quantities causes a feeling of general malaise and an acceleration of the pulse, these foods must therefore be taken in small quantities).
- A decrease in the rate of ghrelin, which is the hormone of hunger, which leads to a lack of interest in food.