Welcome to Pacific Laparoscopy

John M. Rabkin, MD, FACS Dana Benner, PA-C Barbara Metcalf, RN

Our Mission

Our goal is to expand awareness, acceptance an understanding of the surgical treatment of morbid obesity, to encourage and facilitate ongoing support groups for patients and family, and to promote the further development and refinement of advanced laparoscopic surgical technique.

Our Experience

We began in 1979 with gastroplasty, a purely restrictive procedure. In 1984 we introduced a “hybrid” procedure combining moderate restriction of food with moderate malabsorption. A refinement, the Duodenal Switch (DS), has been our primary procedure since 1993. Our Laparoscopic techniques evolved directly from 10 years pioneering work in Laparoscopy and more than 26 years in bariatric surgery, including twelve years with the DS as our primary procedure. We developed and performed the first laparoscopic DS in 1999. The laparoscopie technique allows for a quicker recovery time, less pain, and minimal scarring. We are one of the few programs worldwide to offer this technique. Laparoscopic surgery is now recommended instead of open laparotomy, and our series of over 1500 patients currently includes more than 1000 laparoscopic DS procedures. We also take a special interest in revisional surgery when older bariatric procedures have resulted in weight re-gain or other complications, and we have converted more than 65 of these patients to the DS with good results.

For those who do not qualify for lap DS, we offer laparoscopic Vertical Gastrectomy (LAP VG) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (LAP RGB). In addition, we offer post-weight loss procedures such as hernia repair, tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), thighplasty, total body lift, arm lift (brachioplasty) and breast reconstruction.

We perform surgeries at St. Mary's Medical Center, California Pacific Medical Center, and El Camino Hospitals located in San Francisco: