Stomach Surgery

Stomach surgery may refer to either bariatric (weight loss) surgery such as gastric bypass, surgery to address acid reflux (GERD), or one of the three types of surgery that are primarily used to address stomach cancer – namely, endoscopic resection, partial gastrectomy and total gastrectomy. In the case of cancer surgeries, endoscopic resection is a minimally invasive approach wherein a thin tube called an endoscope is threaded from the throat and into the stomach for purposes of removing a suspicious growth. In a partial gastrectomy, a portion of the stomach is removed as well as part of the esophagus or sometimes the beginning of the small intestine. In a total gastrectomy, the stomach is removed in its entirety as well as parts of nearby organs that may be affected. Both subtotal and total gastrectomy procedures are usually accompanied by removal of nearby lymph nodes.