What is the difference between as mini-gastric bypass and a traditional RNY gastric bypass?
"Despite being called a‘mini’ gastric bypass it is actually more powerful than a traditional gastric bypass. The difference is that there is one join (between the stomach and the small bowel) rather than the two joins (stomach and the small bowel + small bowel to small bowel) of the traditional bypass, hence it is faster to perform. This is why it is called a mini gastric bypass.
The mini gastric bypass confers 10% more weight loss than the traditional bypass. However, there are some crucial differences;
The traditional RNY bypass is excellent at treating acid reflux, wheras the mini can make reflux much worse.
Some people experience fouls smelling fatty diarrhoea after the mini bypass, although this often settles it tends not to be experienced in the traditional bypass.
Around 5% of people need the mini bypass converting to a traditional version because they cannot tolerate either severe reflux or fatty diarrhoea.
So in summary, although the mini gastric bypass is more powerful than the traditional gastric bypass it does come with more risk of long term problems.”