A sleeve gastrectomy (also called gastric sleeve, vertical gastrectomy, restrictive vertical gastroplasty, or vertical sleeve gastrectomy), is a surgical weight-loss procedure in which the stomach is reduced to about 15% of its original size, by surgical removal of a large portion of the stomach along the greater curvature.
During a sleeve gastrectomy, we divide the stomach vertically with a line of staples and remove a large portion of it using minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery. The remaining stomach is a long tube shaped like a very slender banana. It can hold between one and five ounces.
The surgery helps you lose weight by restricting the amount of food (and, therefore, calories) that can be eaten at one time. The part of the stomach that is removed also secretes a hormone called ghrelin which is partly responsible for appetite and hunger. Due to the decreased amount of ghrelin, sleeve gastrectomy patients experience a loss or reduction in appetite.
At Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas, our surgeons are experienced and skilled in minimally invasive techniques, and we are happy to offer our patients different approaches to performing the sleeve gastrectomy.
With this approach, patients will have fewer incisions and therefore less scarring. Patients also experience less pain and a faster recovery.
This involves performing the procedure through a small incision hidden in the belly button. There are no visible scars after the procedure. Dr. A is the first to bring this technique to North Texas.
This is the standard approach to sleeve gastrectomy. It is minimally invasive with a quick recovery. Dr. A performs this with fewer and smaller incisions than the traditional approach resulting in less scarring and quicker recovery
The sleeve gastrectomy is most similar to the lap-band procedure in that it is a purely restrictive procedure that causes weight loss by reducing your stomach’s capacity to hold food. Unlike the Lap-Band, however, the gastric sleeve does not require periodic adjustments. There is no band wrapped around the stomach that can slip or erode surrounding tissue.
The tube portion of the stomach that remains after the surgery is more resistant to stretching because it is formed from a very muscular portion of the stomach. This makes it less likely that chronic overeating will increase your stomach’s capacity over time. However, if gastric sleeve patients consume a lot of soft, high-calorie foods like ice cream, milkshakes, and creamy cheeses, it is possible to defeat the benefits of the procedure and slow weight loss.
The gastric sleeve does not include an intestinal bypass, so it avoids the issues of nutrient deficiencies, marginal ulcers and intestinal obstructions that may occur in intestinal bypass. The sleeve gastrectomy causes much less dumping syndrome than does the gastric bypass because the pylorus (the sphincter valve that controls flow of food out of the stomach into the intestine) remains intact.
Follow up information collected on sleeve gastrectomy patients at two and six years after surgery shows that the amount of weight people lose and keep off following a gastric sleeve is better than that seen with Lap-Band surgery and in some cases approaches results reported with Roux-en-y gastric bypass.
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Pre-Op QuizDr. Al-Kalla will be leaving Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas at the end of July. If you would like continue as his patient, please let us know and we can assist in getting your medical records transferred.
You may also choose to stay with Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas and we’ll gladly transfer your care to another provider on staff.
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