The cost of surgery is no laughing matter, with minimum costs for most surgeries starting in the tens of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately,
figuring out how much any surgery is going to cost is tricky.

Individual facilities charge based on a wide array of factors ranging from the reputation of the hospital or a given surgeon to the affluence of an area. This is why the average cost of gastric bypass surgery in the United States can range from around $20,000 to nearly $40,000.

The costs in rural areas do tend toward the lower end of the spectrum while the cost in high density areas such as New York City tend to be near the top of the scale. However, by looking outside of the borders of the United States, it becomes clear that the average cost is not the same everywhere.

Mexico is home to a number of facilities that have received approval from the international accreditation body known as the JCI (Joint Commission International).

The cost for a gastric bypass at these facilities, which employ the same technology and procedures as U.S hospitals, runs toward 50%, and can be as little as 20%, of the costs in the U.S.

Those seeking to receive a gastric bypass are going to be required to make choices and changes. The choice they will be faced with is where to have their surgery.

Local or regional hospitals are able to provide a gastric bypass, but the gastric bypass surgery cost will be roughly 80% more than a comparable facility in Mexico would charge. The changes they make will be to their diet.

What many don’t realize is that this dietary change will start before the procedure is ever performed. Much like the diet required before a lap band procedure, the patient will be required to limit or eliminate a number of foods.

For the most part, these are the foods that would be limited or removed as part of a normal diet and include high sugar foods like cakes and candy, as well as carbohydrate rich foods like pasta and bread.

The principle difference from a normal diet is that there is very high protein requirement, ranging between 70-120 grams a day. It can require augmenting the protein intake with protein shakes.

After the procedure, the patient will undergo a series of dietary stages and continued changes to their diet. The stages typically move the patient through a four-stage transition:  liquid, semi-liquid, semi-solid and solid.

Patients are all but forbidden from eating high sugar foods, as this can lead to indigestion and vomiting. Patients are also required to begin taking an iron and zinc enhanced, daily multivitamin that they must continue taking for life. The post gastric bypass diet will be very protein heavy and limit fat intake.

Surgical procedures come preloaded with potential complications – gastric bypass is no exception.  There are the standard complications, such
as post-operative infections and bleeding, that can occur.

Unlike other surgeries, which largely seek to repair or replace something and make it close to how it originally was, the gastric bypass fundamentally and permanently alters the digestive tract. This alteration poses its own set of possible complications. Therefore, the gastric bypass cost should be a factor in deciding upon receiving treatment. Usually with this procedure, a large portion of the stomach is stapled off to reduce stomach volume.  While infrequent, it is possible for the staples to break down or degrade.

A more common occurrence among those that receive a gastric bypass is to develop gallstones, crystalline accumulations that may block the bile duct.  Other complications may include stomach inflammation (gastritis), pouch enlargement and vomiting.

A very serious complication that may arise is nutritional deficiencies in calcium, vitamins B-12 and iron.  These complications can lead to anemia and even early onset osteoporosis.

The weight loss may leave loose skin that requires surgical removal.  The most dire possible complication from gastric bypass is death. Is is possible to die while undergoing the surgery, though this occurs in less than 1% of all gastric bypass procedures.

Losing weight inevitably requires alterations in dietary habits.  When it comes to diet after gastric bypass, the changes are not a matter of choice but of necessity.  The gastric bypass surgery changes the physical structure of the stomach and reduces its overall size.

This reduces the total amount of time and surface area available for the absorption of nutrients and calories, which is the key to how a gastric bypass causes weight loss.

It also means that someone with a gastric bypass is at a far greater risk for nutritional deficiencies that can negatively affect health.  Each patient is a little different, but the diet after gastric bypass or mini gastric bypass follows these general rules.

Immediately after surgery, patients are on a liquid diet including broths, juices and water.  From there they move on to a semi-liquid diet.  This may include low fat milk (1% or skim), blended fruits and soups, blended beans, and oatmeal or cream of wheat (thinned).

A daily multivitamin with iron and zinc will be added at this stage and must be taken every single day.  Sugary foods of almost any kind are not permitted.  After the semi-solid stage, the patient can move to semi-solid foods.

Examples foods from this stage include poached eggs, sugarless yogurts, canned fruits, cottage cheese and non-red, ground, lean meats. The final and lasting stage is solid foods.

The foods that are tolerated here include lowfat cottage cheese and yogurts, fish and lean meats and egg whites.  The key is to maintain protein levels while limiting fat and sugar.

Weight loss surgeries are still something of a controversial subject in the medical community and the reports regarding their effectiveness can vary considerably from source to source.

There are some differences in the lap band vs gastric bypass success rates when evaluated against each other. At the one year mark, gastric bypass surgery generally produces a reduction in excess weight that ranges between 50%-60%. After two years the total average loss is around 2/3 of excess weight.  After three years, the total loss is normally around 70%. The lap band procedure, on the other hand, produces a one year total loss of excess weight that peaks around 50%. The gastric bypass cost is also something to consider when comparing to other surgeries. Nonetheless, assuming that the patient is compliant with the dietary restrictions and engages in the recommended levels of exercise, the evidence is that both a lap band procedure and gastric bypass surgery will result in weight loss.

While the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is the classic weight loss surgery, two alternatives to it are the mini gastric bypass and the lap band surgery.  Given a choice between a mini gastric bypass versus lap band surgery, the question becomes which is better.

The choice isn’t clear cut and may hinge largely on the advice of a physician and the weight loss needs of the individual. Here’s the rundown on both. Both procedures can be performed laparoscopically reducing operation time.

The lap band surgery and mini gastric bypass normally take around one hour or less.  People can return to work within about one week from both, though activity restrictions usually continue for 4 to 6 weeks.

Both surgeries are widely available in the U.S, Canada and the U.K. However, both are available in Mexico much more cheaply than in the U.S. and faster than is average in Canada and the U.K. The principle difference lies in what happens to the stomach.

The lap band is a device that can be filled or emptied to provide more or less restriction to food intake.  It can also be emptied completely, essentially returning the stomach to its original size.

The gastric bypass is a permanent change to the stomach in which a large section of the stomach is stapled closed and the remaining piece is attached to the small intestine. The mini gastric bypass is not meant to be reversible.

Whether a person is getting a lap band surgery at their local hospital or traveling to Mexico for a lower cost procedure, there are dietary restrictions that need to be followed prior to surgery.

The pre op diet for the lap band surgery, which begins about two weeks before surgery, is designed to accomplish several things.  First, it is intended to help reduce the amount of fat that surrounds the stomach and liver.

Reducing this fat helps to limit bleeding during the procedure.   Next, it helps to reduce liver size.  If the liver is too large, the procedure may not be able to be performed.  Lastly, it is designed to increase the amount of protein consumed, which allows the muscles to better handle the surgery.

The diet itself is limits the amount of high calorie carbohydrate and sugary foods that can be eaten.  This includes pasta, deep fried foods like french fries, butter and other high fat items, soda and alcohol.

Foods that are encouraged are yogurt, oatmeal, green vegetables and eggs.  It is also standard for the pro op diet for lap band surgery to include a protein supplement powder that can be mixed into a drink form, such as Myocel.

The lap band procedure is one of the more popular bariatric surgeries.  With approximately 95% of patients receiving the procedure with non-invasive techniques and a 50% reduction of excess weight at the one year mark, that is not surprising.

One aspect of the lap band procedure that goes largely unmentioned is the lap band adjustment. The lap band is, basically, an inflatable belt that is put around the stomach.  As part of the procedure, a small port is imbedded in the abdominal wall to provide access to the belt.

It is this port that the a physician uses to perform adjustments to the band.  A small needle can be inserted into the port and used to either drain off fluid from the belt, which reduces constriction on the stomach, or to add fluid, which increases constriction of the stomach.

This is one way to help patients manage their weight loss with the lap band system.  It is common for the lap band to be adjusted, generally to add fluid, between 6-8 times over the first year and a half.

Fortunately for patients, follow up adjustments to the lap band are a relatively simple procedure.  This means that they can choose to have a lower cost surgery in Mexico and the follow-up adjustments performed by a physician in the U.S.

The lap band surgery is designed to assist in the loss of health endangering excess weight.  It accomplishes this by restricting the space in the stomach.  Like all weight loss methods, the results of the lap band surgery can depend significantly on the individual’s situation.

There are some average numbers that can be employed to help understand the results.  The rate of weight loss is typically one to two pounds a week for the first year.  After the first year, the rate of loss tends to decline as the person gets closer to their ideal body weight.

It is possible to lose up to three pounds a week, during the first year, but those results are generally achieved only by those engaging in strict adherence to the dietary rules and an above average exercise regimen.

At the one year mark, the total weight loss is usually around 50% of excess weight. The other result of lap band surgery, for many people, is a significant debt. The cost of lap band surgery procedures can amount to as much as $30,000 in some areas and may not be covered by insurance, even if it is medically necessary.

A more affordable choice is to have the exact same procedure performed in Mexico for just about half the cost or even less.

Lap band adjustable gastric banding is a surgical weight loss solution.  The procedure is performed the world over.  The exact same procedure and devices used in the U.S, U.K and Canada are also used in Mexico.

The lower operating costs there allow board certified physicians to perform the surgery less expensively, generating a considerable financial savings to U.S patients.  It can also be a major time savings for those in Canada and the U.K, where waits for surgery can last months.

In about 95% of cases, the procedure can be performed using laparoscopes.  These are extendable tubes that carry tiny lights or surgical instruments and allow surgeons to accomplish surgeries with a few, very small incisions, rather than one large incision.

Laparoscopic surgeries also tend to have a reduced risk of bleeding and infection following surgery. The lap band itself is a belt-like device, constructed of silicon, that is fitted around the stomach.  After it is in place, the lap band is inflated with a saline solution.

It constricts the stomach to create a pouch above the band that is much smaller than the typical stomach. This reduces the total amount of food that can comfortably be consumed leading to weight loss.