What is sleeve gastrectomy?
The laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, often referred to as the “sleeve,” is performed by removing approximately 80% of the stomach. The remaining stomach is the size and shape of a banana.
Sleeve gastrectomy surgery
- The stomach is freed from the organs around it.
- Surgical staplers are used to remove 80% of the stomach, making it much smaller.
How sleeve gastrectomy surgery helps with weight loss
This smaller stomach created by the surgery holds less food and liquid, helping you feel full sooner and reducing the amount of food and calories you can eat. The surgery also removes the part of the stomach that produces most of the hormones that cause hunger, which helps decrease your appetite, increase feelings of fullness, and support blood sugar control. These changes can help your body reach and maintain a healthier weight.
Unlike some other weight loss surgeries, gastric sleeve surgery allows food to move through your digestive system in the usual way, so your body continues to absorb nutrients normally. While your stomach is smaller, it still functions as it did before surgery.
The straightforward nature of gastric sleeve surgery makes it a safe and effective option for many people, without some of the potential complications associated with surgeries that involve the small intestine.
While weight loss with gastric sleeve surgery may not be quite as rapid or as large as with gastric bypass, many patients find it is enough to significantly improve their health and quality of life. Weight loss usually happens gradually, with most patients continuing to lose weight for up to 2–3 years after surgery.
Because gastric sleeve surgery is a newer procedure, there is less long-term data available compared to gastric bypass. However, many patients experience important health benefits as they lose weight, including improvements in:
- Type 2 diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Asthma
- Acid reflux (GERD)
Losing weight can also make it easier to move, exercise, and enjoy daily activities with less pain and more energy.
It’s important to remember that surgery is a tool to help you lose weight, but it works best when paired with healthy lifestyle habits. You will need to follow the eating and exercise guidelines provided by your Sentara surgeon and dietitian to lose weight safely and keep it off. While surgery helps you feel full with smaller portions, your commitment to making healthy choices is key to your long-term success.
No. Gastric sleeve surgery is considered a permanent procedure.
- Technically simple and shorter surgery time
- Can be performed in certain patients with high-risk medical conditions
- May be performed as the first step for patients with severe obesity
- May be used as a bridge to gastric bypass or other weight loss procedures
- Risk of injury to stomach, intestines or other organs during surgery
- Risk of leaking from the line where parts of the stomach have been stapled together
- Risk of scarring inside the belly. This could lead to an obstruction (blockage) in the bowel in the future.
- Gastritis (inflamed stomach lining), heartburn or stomach ulcers
- Poor nutrition
- Vomiting from eating more than the stomach pouch can hold
- Non-reversible procedure
- May worsen or cause new onset of reflux and heartburn