Transform Your Life with Gastric Sleeve Surgery
What is gastric sleeve surgery?
Gastric sleeve, is a bariatric surgery that aims to lose excess weight. Where the volume of the stomach is reduced.
The word” gastrectomy ” means removing part or all of your stomach. A sleeve gastrectomy removes about 80% of your stomach, leaving behind a tubular “sleeve”, the size and shape of a banana.
Reducing the size of your stomach is a simple way to limit the amount of food you can eat in one meal, which will make you feel full faster.
But it also serves another purpose: it reduces the amount of hunger hormones that your stomach can produce.
This helps reduce your appetite and may help prevent the impulses that make people regain the weight they have lost.
Sleeve gastrectomy is the most common weight loss operation in the world.
- Gastric sleeve surgery is a surgical procedure aimed at reducing the size of the stomach, which helps in weight loss.
- During the operation, part of the stomach is removed and shaped into the form of a small tube, which reduces the stomach’s ability to absorb food.
- This procedure is considered an option for obese people and non-surgical treatment has not been effective on its own.
- The operation involves the stage of sleeve gastrectomy in a tubular form without interference with the course of the small intestine. Stomach reduction reduces appetite and improves the feeling of satiety faster, which helps to achieve weight loss.
It is important to understand that gastric sleeve surgery involves a commitment to lifestyle changes and a healthy diet after the operation.
There should also be cooperation with a specialized medical team to ensure the success of the operation and maintain the overall health of the individual.
Medical Conditions that Benefit from Gastric Sleeve Surgery
Gastric sleeve surgery is a surgical treatment for obesity and obesity-related medical conditions. It is offered only to people with serious medical conditions related to obesity. Gastric sleeve surgery can improve and sometimes eliminate conditions such as:
- Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
- High blood pressure and heart disease.
- Hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) and arterial diseases.
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis.
- Joint pain and osteoarthritis.
Is Gastric Sleeve Surgery Safe?
The risks of gastric sleeve surgery are significantly lower than the risks of obesity and related diseases. It also has lower complication rates than other common surgeries, including gallbladder removal and hip replacement. Most gastric sleeve procedures are performed using minimally invasive surgical techniques, meaning less pain from incisions and faster recovery.
What Qualifies You for Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
Having severe obesity, as determined by your Body Mass Index (BMI), which is calculated based on your weight and height, and related health conditions. Class III obesity means a BMI of 40 or higher, or a BMI of at least 35 with at least one related disease.
Having tried but failed to lose weight before surgery. You may be required to spend three to six months on a weight loss plan.
Being physically and mentally prepared for the surgery and recovery. Before qualifying for weight loss surgery, you will meet with a team of nutritionists, psychologists, and other medical specialists for counseling and evaluation.
Steps Before Gastric Sleeve Surgery
If you have passed your health screening and qualified for sleeve gastrectomy surgery, the next step is to follow a liquid diet for two weeks. Your surgeon will give you specific guidelines to follow. The purpose is to lose some abdominal and liver fat to make the surgery safer.
You will be asked not to eat or drink anything for 12 hours before the procedure. This is to ensure that your stomach is empty during the procedure.
Leaving food or liquids in your stomach during surgery can cause unpleasant or even dangerous side effects.
How is Gastric Sleeve Surgery Performed?
Most of the time, sleeve gastrectomy is performed using laparoscopic or robotic surgery.
This means that instead of making a large incision to open the abdominal cavity to access your organs, the surgeon will perform the procedure through small incisions.
This makes recovery easier, but some people may be better served by open surgery, depending on their circumstances.
What Happens During Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
- The surgeon will give you general anesthesia, so you will be asleep during the procedure.
- The surgeon will make a small cut in your abdomen (about 1/2 inch long) and insert a port. They will pump carbon dioxide gas through the port to expand your abdomen.
- They will then insert a small illuminated video camera (laparoscope) through the port. The camera will display the inside of your abdomen on a screen.
- Through one to three additional incisions, the surgeon will insert additional ports and complete the procedure using long, narrow tools.
- They will measure the gastric sleeve, then divide and separate the remainder of your stomach using a surgical stapler.
- The surgeon will remove the remainder of the stomach, then close your incisions.
How Long Does Gastric Sleeve Surgery Take?
Compared to other weight loss surgery procedures, sleeve gastrectomy is relatively short and simple. It takes about 60 to 90 minutes. Your surgeon may still want you to stay in the hospital for a day or two afterward.
This way, they can help manage pain and any temporary side effects of the surgery, such as nausea.
What happens after gastric sleeve surgery?
You will have frequent check-ups with your doctor in the following weeks and months. They will monitor the progress of weight loss, related health conditions and any side effects of surgery.
They will also want to know if you are taking good care of yourself and following the lifestyle guidelines necessary to maintain your health and lose weight.
Should I follow a diet after gastric sleeve surgery?
In the short term, you will have to follow strict dietary guidelines to ensure that your stomach heals well.
After a few months, you may start eating a more normal diet, but you should still choose foods wisely.
Since you will not be able to eat as before, you will have to make sure that what you eat is nutritious enough to maintain your energy needs. You will start taking vitamins shortly after surgery and will need to continue taking them permanently.
Advantages of gastric sleeve surgery
Compared with other bariatric surgery procedures, gastric sleeve is simpler, faster and safer. People with health conditions that may not be suitable for a longer procedure can often afford gastric sleeve.
Since surgery does not rearrange your intestines, it is also unlikely to cause long-term complications related to nutrition.
While the average weight loss with gastric sleeve is slightly lower than with more complex weight loss surgeries, it still provides excellent weight loss and health benefits.
This operation began as the first step in a two-step bariatric surgery called duodenal transposition. Surgeons began to offer it as an independent procedure after many people found that they did not need to complete the second part.
What are the Risks or Potential Complications of Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
All surgeries have some risk of complications. With gastric sleeve surgery, complications occur in less than 1% of operations. Surgical complications may include:
- Bleeding.
- Infection.
After recovery, some people experience long-term complications from the surgery. These are usually easy to treat when they occur. They can include:
- Scar Tissue: This can cause your stomach to narrow, which can slow down or block food from moving through your stomach, causing nausea, vomiting, and difficulty eating.
- Nutritional Deficiency: It’s challenging to get enough nutrients when you eat significantly less. People who have had weight loss surgery are usually prescribed daily nutritional supplements for life.
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD): Some people who had acid reflux before the surgery find it gets worse afterward, and some people who never had it before develop it. This can often be treated with medication.
- Gallstones: Rapid weight loss can increase the likelihood of developing gallstones. This happens as more fat is processed through the liver, which can then accumulate in the gallbladder as cholesterol stones, causing pain after eating. You might need another surgery to remove the gallbladder, called a cholecystectomy.
What is the Recovery Time for Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
You should allow yourself a month before expecting to feel fully like yourself or return to work at full capacity. During this time, many people feel fatigued as their bodies recover while adjusting to limited calories.
In the first few weeks, you will only be able to tolerate a liquid diet. Over time, you will gradually progress to a soft diet, and finally to solid foods.
How Much Weight Can You Lose with Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
The average weight loss is 25% to 30% of body weight in the first year to two years. This means if you weigh 300 pounds before surgery, you would lose 100 pounds. You might lose more or less, depending on the lifestyle habits you adopt after the surgery.
Some people also regain some weight, but the average overall weight loss of 25% to 30% of your body weight remains stable over five years.
Can Gastric Sleeve Surgery Fail?
Although not common, some people regain the weight they lose. They might revert to old habits, or their stomach might stretch again over time. If this happens to you, you might consider a gastric sleeve revision surgery.
The surgeon might repair the original gastric sleeve or convert it to another type of weight loss surgery with stronger results, such as gastric bypass or duodenal switch.
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