A
Absorption
Process by which digested food is absorbed by the lower part of the small intestine into the bloodstream.
Anastomosis:
Surgical connection between two structures.
B
Bariatric surgery:
is surgery on the stomach and/or intestines to help the patient with extreme obesity lose weight.
Body Mass Index (BMI):
A measure of body weight relative to height. BMI can be used to determine if people are at a healthy weight, overweight or obese.
C
Clinically Severe Obesity:
Body Mass Index of 40 or more, which is roughly equivalent to 100 pounds or more over ideal body weight; a weight level that is life risking. Also known as Morbid Obesity.
Co-Morbid:
Associated illness (i.e., arthritis, hypertension) disabling conditions associated with clinically severe obesity or obesity-related health conditions.
Colon:
Large intestine beginning at the end of the small intestine and ending at the rectum.
Contraindications:
Any symptom or circumstance indicating the inappropriateness of an otherwise advisable treatment (i.e., alcoholism; drug dependency; severe depression; sociopathic (antisocial) personality disorder).
D
Diet:
What a person eats and drinks. Any type of eating plan.
Dilation:
Process of enlarging a passage or anastomosis.
Dumping Syndrome:
Uncomfortable feeling of nausea, lightheadedness, upset stomach, diarrhea, associated with ingestion of sweets, high-calorie liquids or dairy products.
Duodenum:
First 12" of small intestine immediately below stomach. Bile and pancreatic fluids flow into the duodenum through ducts from liver and pancreas respectively.
G
Gastric
Pertaining to stomach.
H
Hernia
A weakness in the abdominal wall resulting in a detectable bulge.
J
Jejunum
Ten feet of small intestine; the part responsible for digestion.
L
Lap-Band Adjustable Gastric Banding System:
is an inflatable band that is placed around the upper stomach to create a small gastric pouch. This limits food consumption and creates an earlier feeling of fullness. The band is implanted by laparoscopic surgery and is then adjusted over time to meet individual patient needs. Once the band is in place, it is inflated with saline. Subsequent adjustments are made through a portal under the skin.
Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass:
Laparoscopy is a term given to a group of operations that are performed with the aid of a camera placed in the abdomen. The laparoscope allows physicians to perform minimally invasive surgery with just a small incision in the abdomen. This technology, known as laparoscopic assisted surgery, enables the minimally invasive removal of the colon, the kidney (for living donors in kidney transplants), and weight reducing procedures such as gastric bypass and vertical banding gastroplasty (VBG).
Laparoscopy:
Method of visualizing and treating intra-abdominal problems with long fiber-optic instruments.
Lleum:
Ten feet of small intestine, responsible for absorption.
M
Malabsorption:
Difficulty in the digestion or absorption of nutrients from food substances.
Metabolism:
All of the processes that occur in the body that turn the food you eat into energy your body can use.
Morbid:
Pertaining to disease, illness, increased risk of death .
Morbid Obesity:
Body Mass Index of 40 or more, which is roughly equivalent to 100 pounds or more over ideal body weight; a weight level that is life risking .