Medical glossary

Short, clear explanations of the terms you will meet while reading about bariatric and digestive surgery.

Bariatric surgery

BMI is a number calculated from weight and height that is used to estimate the degree of obesity or underweight.

Sleeve gastrectomy is an operation that reduces the size of the stomach to help with weight loss.

Gastric bypass helps weight loss by making the stomach smaller and partly re-routing the path of food.

SASI combines the idea of a sleeve with a partial bypass of food in selected cases.

GERD is the backflow of stomach acid into the esophagus. It can cause heartburn, pain or a chronic cough.

A hiatal hernia happens when part of the stomach pushes up toward the chest through the opening in the diaphragm.

Weight regain after a sleeve can result from changed eating habits, stomach dilation or lack of follow-up.