Myths and misinformation in circulation about Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass are generally fueled by lack of understanding and prejudice about weight loss surgery.

None of the following myths are true...

• open surgery is safer than laparoscopic because you can see better
• most people gain their weight back after LGB
• after LGB, you can never eat regular food
• LGB can't be reversed
• Pregnancy isn't safe after LGB
• LGB causes chronic diarrhea and bad gas
• LGB is very dangerous compared to LapBand
• Surgery is "cheating" or the "easy way out"

Myth: open surgery is safer than LGB because you can see better

The truth is that laparoscopic surgery is performed under magnification with bright fiber-optic illumination. You can actually see the details better with the laparoscope if you are an experienced laparoscopic surgeon who knows how to place your ports for optimal exposure and operate with an angled laparoscope.

Myth: Most people gain their weight back after LGB

Studies out of the Scandinavian countries and Canada where they have national health services which track long-term outcomes have shown that weight loss after gastric bypass is sustained after 5 and 10 years. More importantly, these studies show when you compare people who suffer from morbid obesity who choose to have gastric bypass with people who don't, that the people who undergo gastric bypass are more likely to be alive ten years later compared to people who don't have gastric bypass. 

Weight regain was very common after banded gastroplasty or "stomach stapling" in the mid-1980's. This was an operation which became very popular because its supporters claimed it was safer than gastric bypass but just as effective in terms of weight loss. It was a purely restrictive operation which like the LapBand, created a small stomach pouch without re-routing the small intestine. By the late 1990's, banded gastroplasty had been studied and shown to have less initial weight loss than gastric bypass, and have a high rate of late failures with complete weight regain. Banded gastroplasty is no longer commonly performed by surgeons. 

Myth: After LGB, you can never eat regular food

After LGB, patients eat regular food, just like everyone else. They simply eat less of it. Patients are restricted to a pureed diet for the first 3 weeks after surgery, then start solids again. By the third month after LGB, most patients are eating a wide variety of regular food, including going out to restaurants.

Myth: LGB can't be reversed

Just like the LapBand, LGB can be reversed. To reverse a gastric bypass is more difficult than taking out a LapBand, but neither reversal leaves your stomach the exact way it was before the initial surgery. More importantly, why would anyone who has lost the extra weight after surgery want to reverse it and go back to their previous weight? If you aren't sure you are ready to eat smaller portions permanently in exchange for being healthier, happier and living longer, than you probably aren't ready to have any type of weight loss surgery.

Myth: Pregnancy isn't safe after LGB

Many patients have healthy pregnancies after LGB. There are published studies of pregnancy after gastric bypass showing that it is possible and safe to have a baby after weight loss surgery. The fact is that getting pregnant while you are still suffering from morbid obesity places you and your baby at higher risk from complications compared to having undergone successful LGB prior to your pregnancy.

Myth: LGB causes chronic diarrhea and bad gas

Malabsorptive surgeries like Duodenal Switch or distal gastric bypass cause problems with diarrhea and bad gas, but not LGB. This is another example of doctors and lay persons failing to understand the difference between LGB and other less successful or less safe weight loss operations.

Myth: LGB is very dangerous compared to LapBand

Although the risk of dying from a complication after Lapband surgery is lower than the risk after LGB, the difference in safety is much less than the manufacturer and other LapBand advocates would have people believe. Nationally, the risk of dying after LapBand is 1 in 1000 compared to 5 in 1000 after gastric bypass. But compared to LGB patients, the average LapBand patient is younger, has a lower BMI, and fewer medical conditions which gives them an intrinsically lower risk for any surgery than the average LGB patient. When you take that into account, plus the fact that LGB patients have greater weight loss and therefore greater increase in longevity after surgery, the reality is that both operations have comparable safety profiles. Of course, the "safest" procedure is simply to not have surgery at all and try another round of Weight Watchers or Nutri-System or Atkins or South Beach diets. But we all know how effective those "safe" choices are.

The fact is that LGB is very safe surgery. When compared to other life-saving surgery such as colon resections, aneurysm repairs, cancer surgeries, and heart surgery, a mortality rate of 0.5% is a very low and acceptable risk.

Myth: Surgery is "cheating" or the "easy way out"

If you take an antibiotic for an infection, is it considered cheating? If someone takes high blood pressure medication is it cheating? If someone has coronary artery disease and needs heart surgery, is that the easy way out? The fact is that we have no effective medical programs to treat morbid obesity. For almost everybody who suffers from morbid obesity, surgery isn't the easy way out. Its the only way out. 

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