Gastric Sleeve Surgery

About This Procedure

What is gastric sleeve surgery?

The sleeve (vertical) gastrectomy, or gastric sleeve, is an operation to remove a portion of the stomach and resize the stomach to roughly the size and shape of a banana. A smaller stomach size helps patients become full faster and decreases the sensation of appetite. You also may have heard the gastric sleeve called "partial gastrectomy," "sleeve gastrectomy," "longitudinal gastrectomy" or "vertical gastrectomy."

Gastric sleeve vs. gastric bypass surgery

The sleeve gastrectomy does not involve any "rerouting" or reconnecting of the intestines and is a simpler operation than the gastric bypass or the duodenal switch. Unlike gastric Lap Banding, the sleeve gastrectomy does not require the implantation of an artificial device inside the abdomen. It can be done laparoscopically, and discharge from the hospital occurs within one day.

Benefits of gastric sleeve procedure

In addition to losing significant amounts of weight, patients in medical studies have shown improvement of other conditions within one to two years after a sleeve gastrectomy. Medical problems that may improve after gastric bypass surgery include:

• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• High cholesterol
• Sleep apnea