metal clips show in xray?

I just had a routine chest xray and metal clips "probably related to gastric bypass surgery" show in upper left quadrant.

This was a shocker to me.  I would have thought that if metal clips were going to be part of the procedure that I would have been told.  So of course I am wondering if they've been left there by mistake.

I'll be calling my surgeon in the morning - but I have had a dull discomfort in that area that never completely went away - and now I can hardly wait until morning.  Does anyone know if using metal clips/staples is part of the surgery?

17 mos out - down 120 lbs.

My operative report mentions nothing about any kind of clips or otehr permanent hardware, but different surgeons have different protocols.

Lora

They are staples. I'm surprised your surgeon didn't tell you or have you watch a video on the operation. If you Google RNY, there was a video you can watch showing the staple lines. I have three rows.

I'm loaded in staples from the gastric bypass, and my gallbladder removal, and other various surgeries. I even have titanium cages in my spine. Xrays of my mid section are interesting.

teri

The x-ray showed I had clips in place from my gallbladder removal.  I was told this was normal.

in my education class i was told that the surgeon will leave a metal thing on my remement stomach so that anyone that does xrays will know what that is....it will not send off the beepers at the air port or anything like that, but they do that for those that do not understand the bypass, when they look at the xrays they do not know what the rememant stomach is and why it is there...not sure if all surgeons do this, but that is what i was told
hope this was helpful
debby

Thanks everyone.  Very helpful!

I had a breast lumpectomy, and nobody mentioend anything about any metal hardware left in my body. I then had twice-annual mammos and nobody mentioned anything. Then I was FOUR years (and eight mammos) out from the procedure and the technician idly mentioned "Yep, you can see where you had the surgery from all the metal markers they left" and I was floored to see that my breast looks like FRANKENBOOB on mammo. Seriously.... dozens of pieces of metal left in my breast! 

I'm a cat scan tech and I see metal clips on every gastric bypass patient.  Those patients are mostly (but not all) from the same two surgeons, so it may be different from doc to doc.