After any abdominal surgery pneumonia is a risk.
This is because it hurts to take a deep breath. When a person fails to breathe deeply a portion of the lung may collapse, setting the stage for pneumonia. Approximately 0.1 percent of people undergoing the Roux-en-Y procedure develop
pneumonia. Simply breathing deeply following surgery reduces this risk. In order to facilitate deep breathing the hospital staff will tach you to use a handheld plastic device called an incentive spirometer. You will be instructed to inhale deeply with your mouth around the tube attached to the incentive spirometer. The more air you take into your lungs, the more you will move the little ball inside the spirometer.