Gastric stapling surgery is a type of weight loss surgery that limits the amount of food a person can eat.
Gastric bypass surgery involves bypassing a part of the small intestine that absorbs nutrients. For this reason, these surgeries are referred to as malabsorptive procedures.
Restrictive operations are easier to perform and are generally safer than malabsorptive, or bypass, operations, the Weight-control Information Network says. But people who have restrictive surgery generally lose less weight than people who malabsorptive operations, and they are less likely to maintain weight loss over time.