What is a sleeve gastrectomy?

Sleeve gastrectomy is a newer procedure that induces weight loss by restricting food intake. With this procedure, the surgeon removes approximately 60% of the stomach laparoscopically so that the stomach takes the shape of a tube or "sleeve." This procedure can also be performed on super obese or high-risk patients as part of a two-stage approach with the intention of lowering surgical risk. The patient would later undergo the second stage in order to convert to a gastric bypass or duodenal switch.

Sleeve Gastrectomy is a new, minimally invasive procedure that is performed in under an hour and carries with it a reduced chance of leakage, infection, and bleeding, compared to other weight-loss surgeries. It restricts food intake by the removal of about 60% of the stomach, so that the stomach is reduced to the shape of a tube, or "sleeve."

Surgeons usually perform this procedure on patients who are either super-obese or who are high-risk, with the intention of performing a second surgery at a subsequent time. The second procedure is usually either a gastric bypass or duodenal switch.

This procedure, when part of a combination approach, greatly reduces the risks of bariatric surgery for certain patients, even though it entails two surgeries.

Patients undergoing this procedure usually lose 30-50% of their excess body weight over a 6-12 month period. The timing of the second procedure will depend on the amount of weight lost, and usually takes place 6-18 months after the first surgery.

When performed alone, the sleeve gastrectomy not only restricts gastric volume, but decreases the production of the hormone, ghrelin, which is produced by the left side of the stomach and signals satiety. This procedure reduces feelings of hunger and can result in weight loss that compare favorably in some patients to gastric bypass.

Patients having sleeve gastrectomy should eat smaller amounts of food and avoid large quantities of fat and sugar. They will need to eat sufficient protein, and take multivitamin supplements daily.

 Restrictive operations like gastric sleeve surgery make the stomach smaller and help people lose weight. With a smaller stomach, you will feel full a lot quicker than you are used to. This means that you will need to make big lifelong changes in how you eat, including smaller portion sizes and different foods, in order to lose weight.

This surgery can be done by making a large incision in the abdomen (an open procedure) or by making several small incisions and using small instruments and a camera to guide the surgery (laparoscopic approach). More than half of your stomach is removed, leaving a thin vertical sleeve or tube, that is about the size of a banana. Surgical staples keep your new stomach closed. Because part of your stomach has been removed, this is not reversible.

Sometimes this surgery is part of a larger approach to weight loss done in several steps. If you need to lose a lot of weight before you have duodenal switch surgery, gastric sleeve surgery may help you.