by Brandon Cornett

If you are considering a bariatric weight-loss surgery, two of your initial questions should be:

1. What types of bariatric surgery are there?
2. Am I a candidate for these types of surgery?

Elsewhere on this website, we have covered the second question about surgery criteria, so in this article we will address the first question: What are the main types of bariatric surgery available?

Bariatrics Defined

First off, let’s start with a basic definition. Essentially, bariatric surgery is the clinical name for weight-loss surgery. Bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention and treatment of obesity. So, by extension, bariatric surgery seeks to reduce obesity by surgical means.

Common Types of Bariatric Surgery

• Gastric Bypass - Generally, people are most familiar with this type of bariatric surgery, simply because it has been around for a long time. With gastric bypass surgery, a small portion of the stomach is stapled off and rendered unusable. The intestine is then reattached to the smaller portion of the stomach. This reduces the stomach capacity, which in turn leads to weight loss. Learn more about gastric bypass.
• Adjustable Gastric Band - With this type of bariatric surgery, a band is laparoscopically inserted around the upper part of the stomach (view diagram). This achieves the same “segmenting” effect as gastric bypass, but in a much less invasive way. The LAP-BAND System is a popular form of adjustable gastric banding. Learn more about gastric banding in general and the LAP-BAND in particular.
• Vertical Banded Gastroplasty - The VBG procedure combines two of the things we have mentioned previously — stomach bands and staples. Like the other types of bariatric surgery discussed in this article, the VBG procedure obtains results by creating a “stomach within a stomach.” Learn more about vertical banded gastroplasty.
• Gastric Sleeve Surgery - This procedure is a relatively new type of bariatric surgery. It also referred to as laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, or LSG. This procedure removes a significant portion of the stomach, leaving a sleeve-shaped section of the stomach (hence the name gastric sleeve. Learn more about gastric sleeve surgery.

This article is simplified look at the various types of bariatric surgery. We have only covered the most common types of procedures, within which there are many varieties. If you are seriously considering weight loss surgery, this article should be a starting point for further research.