Gastric sleeve surgery or sleeve gastrectomy has many advantages, primarily to help you achieve significant weight loss and greatly improve your health and quality of life. It is a safer and less complex procedure than other minimally invasive bariatric surgery options because the intestines are not altered. Patients with a BMI of 35 or more with health problems or medical issues that disqualify them from other types of weight loss surgery will most likely qualify for the sleeve gastrectomy. It can also be used as part of a staged procedure and converted to duodenal switch or gastric bypass for additional weight loss if necessary.
With a gastric sleeve procedure, approximately 75 percent of the patient’s stomach is removed, leaving a narrow sleeve. The section removed is where the hormone Ghrelin, which controls hunger, is secreted – markedly reducing your appetite. Patients typically experience a 50 to 60 percent reduction in excess body weight with this procedure. The stomach functions normally; it’s just smaller. It is not restrictive in terms of the foods you can eat afterwards – only the quantity.
Studies have shown that the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy can eliminate, resolve, or improve many health conditions associated with obesity, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea, degenerative joint disease/joint pain, and gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD), similar to resolution rates for other restrictive procedures such as lap band surgery. In addition co-morbidities related to patients’ weight were found to be reduced drastically with remission of type 2 diabetes occurring in a majority of patients in the study.
Why should you consider the sleeve gastrectomy procedure?
The decision to have any type of weight loss surgery requires careful consideration and discussion with a bariatric surgeon. If you are obese and have exhausted all other treatment options, then a surgical solution may be the next step. Talk to a surgeon to find out if gastric sleeve surgery is an appropriate treatment approach for you.
Success for all forms of weight loss surgery is when 50% of the patient’s excess weight is lost and kept off for 5 years post-surgery. Short term sleeve gastrectomy surgery results indicate that patients can lose 45%-64% of their excess body weight by the 12 month mark. Patients have been known to lose 50 to 70% of their excess weight over a two year period after this surgery. A Swiss study recently concluded and found that patients lost over 57% of their excess body weight 5 years after having the gastric sleeve procedure.
The overall success of the weight loss efforts are ultimately and quite literally in your hands. The true measure of success for your gastric sleeve surgery will be dependent on how diet is approached and what choices are made. Will it be healthy foods or fatty junk foods?