Technical Steps and Tips for Linear-Stapled Gastric Bypass Based on Personal Experience and the Classification of...

The most commonly performed Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) procedure is difficult and has many technical variations. The individual patient's anatomic characteristics, like an exceptionally large left liver lobe, fatty mesentery with limited mobile Roux limb, difficulty in positioning a stapler, etc., can greatly increase the technical difficulty of this procedure. Challenging situations in laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery can be classified according to the intraoperative complexity. According to this classification scheme, all patients in laparoscopic linear-stapled gastric bypass can be classified into one of four types: Type I - ideal. Surgery is straightforward, and every operative technique is relatively routine. Type II - less-than-ideal. Some minor technical difficulties may occur; some operative techniques can be more difficult than others. Type III - problematic. Difficult, with some operative techniques considerably more difficult than others. Type IV - very difficult. Every operative step is very difficult. The goal of this article is to analyze the steps of laparoscopic linear-stapled RYGB with regard to personal experience and the classification of intraoperative complexity.