The Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch (BPD/DS) an operation that is approved by the American Society of Metabolic Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) for morbidly obese patients, but it is not widely done in the United States. We are one of the few programs nationally who perform this procedure using a laparoscopic approach.

As opposed to the previous two operations, patients lose weight after this operation primarily because of malabsorption of calories, rather than restriction of caloric intake. A large segment of the intestines is bypassed during this operation so that only a fraction of the food ingested comes in contact with digestive enzymes and thus only a portion of the calories are used by the body. The size of the stomach is reduced, but most people can eat a normal meal after recovery from surgery.

Multiple studies show this is an excellent operation for achieving and maintaining a long-term weight loss (~90% excess weight loss at 5 years) with minimal complications. The complication rate is slightly higher than with the previous operations as is the hospital stay (3-5 days). Because of the malabsorptive component, it is essential that patients maintain their protein and vitamin intake and are attentive to the scheduled follow up program.

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