symptoms of a stricture... help
Stricture will usually occur within a few weeks after GBP surgery. Inability to keep ANYTHING down, accompanied by abdominal pain is the typical sign of a stricture. Contact your surgeon's office ASAP. You will need an EGD for confirmation (which will require a GI specialist), and they can stretch the anastomosis to relieve the stricture. You can become dehydrated very quickly if you do have a stricture. Call the surgeon's office!
This is a repost...but if it can help even one RNYer who is wondering "WHAT DID I DO WRONG...I can't keep down my food. I followed the doctor's orders to a tee". This may help.
What is a stricture? This question comes up weekly, if not daily on OH. Below is a copy and paste from Wikipedia. If you are a few weeks out post op from RNY and have problems keeping well chewed food (even water) down, you might have a stricture. Very common and very treatable (about 5% of RNY patients get them). Also do not freak out if you have to go back a second or third time to get treated for one. The Gastroenterologist will go just below the pouch and air up the "balloon". It is an outpatient procedure and you will be sedated.
As the anastomosis heals, it forms scar tissue, which naturally tends to shrink ("contract") over time, making the opening smaller. This is called a "stricture". Usually, the passage of food through an anastomosis will keep it stretched open, but if the inflammation and healing process outpaces the stretching process, scarring may make the opening so small that even liquids can no longer pass through it. The solution is a procedure called gastroendoscopy, and stretching of the connection by inflating a balloon inside it. Sometimes this manipulation may have to be performed more than once to achieve lasting correction.
What is a stricture? This question comes up weekly, if not daily on OH. Below is a copy and paste from Wikipedia. If you are a few weeks out post op from RNY and have problems keeping well chewed food (even water) down, you might have a stricture. Very common and very treatable (about 5% of RNY patients get them). Also do not freak out if you have to go back a second or third time to get treated for one. The Gastroenterologist will go just below the pouch and air up the "balloon". It is an outpatient procedure and you will be sedated.
As the anastomosis heals, it forms scar tissue, which naturally tends to shrink ("contract") over time, making the opening smaller. This is called a "stricture". Usually, the passage of food through an anastomosis will keep it stretched open, but if the inflammation and healing process outpaces the stretching process, scarring may make the opening so small that even liquids can no longer pass through it. The solution is a procedure called gastroendoscopy, and stretching of the connection by inflating a balloon inside it. Sometimes this manipulation may have to be performed more than once to achieve lasting correction.
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