Channel Lengths

[Guest guest]

Hi all:

Here's a question based on something I read on another list.

I was told that a lot of our docs do not measure our small intestines

before making the division between the bilio and food limbs. In

essence, this person was saying, these docs follow a one-size-fits-

all policy of making either all bilio or all food limbs the same

length, regardless of how long a patient's small intestine is.

(Apparently it can vary by several feet.)

Supposedly, this is particularly prevelant among the docs who do the

procedure by lap. (The one noted exception is Dr. Rabkin, who

does " lap assisted " specifically so he can measure the small

intestine and take out the appendix/gall bladder.)

So, I'm wondering:

1. Is this true?

2. Is this info disclosed to patients before surgery?

3. Assuming it's true, how do those of you who have been to such

docs feel about it? That is, do you feel cheated, or is the extra

convenience and comfort of the pure-lap procedure so important that

you just don't care if the surgery is tailored to your body or not?

Tom