When gastric bypass or other weight loss surgery is successful it can be a blessing, when it is not, it can be a personal and family disaster. Our job is to help you sort out malpractice from unpreventable problems or complications.

Because gastric bypass operations commonly require the cutting and reconnecting of tissue, problems with the suture (stitches) or staple line connections can be catastrophic. Leaking of gastrointestinal juices from the surgical connections can lead to serious infection, abscess, peritonitis and death. Any evidence of symptoms that might be caused by a leak must be investigated at once. The failure to take the gastric bypass patient's complaints seriously, and quickly act, is a prime example of malpractice.

By the second day after gastric bypass surgery pain should be greatly diminished or absent. If there is worsening pain, or back pain, or left shoulder pain, or excessive urination, or breathing difficulty, or significant anxiety, the surgeon must suspect a leak.

In addition to post-surgery leaks, the most common cause of death is pulmonary emboli (clot), respiratory (breathing) failure, and gastric dilatation (abnormal enlargement). Common gastric bypass postoperative problems include infection and opening of the skin suture line, small bowel obstruction, kidney problems, gallstones, nausea and vomiting, hernia, and electrolyte and vitamin imbalances.

It is vital that the surgeons and staff take the time to educate patient and family on the symptoms of postoperative complications together with the need to consult the surgeon or return to the hospital if symptoms appear. The surgeon is obligated to devote sufficient time to monitoring their patients' postoperative recoveries. Never hesitate to return to the hospital if the surgeon is not taking your complaints seriously, and be aware that the presence of a leak can often be confirmed by relatively simple gastrointestinal x-rays.

When a leak is ongoing, time is of the essence so that irreversible infection leading to organ failure and death does not occur. Exploratory surgery must be done even in the face of a negative x-ray when there is high suspicion of a leak.