Gastric Sleeve

What is gastric sleeve surgery?

Sleeve gastrectomy–also known as a gastric sleeve procedure–can be described as a middle-of-the-road approach to surgical weight loss.

With a gastric sleeve, there is no reliance on a device to perform flawlessly to ensure the weight loss, as there is with a gastric band. There also is no intestinal bypass with this procedure, only stomach reduction, so the patient avoids potential complications, such as marginal ulcers, vitamin deficiencies and intestinal obstructions.

What is recovery from gastric sleeve surgery like?

Like gastric bypass (also called Roux-en-Y) and gastric band, the sleeve gastrectomy is usually done through a minimally invasive approach, using several small incisions instead of a single, large one. That means recovery time, discomfort and surgical wound complications are significantly reduced, and patients can return to normal, daily activities much faster. Patients undergoing a gastric sleeve procedure normally require only a two night hospital stay.

Other advantages of the sleeve gastrectomy include retention of normal stomach function so most food items can be consumed, albeit in small amounts, and lowering of the hunger-stimulating hormone, Ghrelin, which is produced in the portion of the stomach that is removed.

What kind of weight loss results can I expect from gastric sleeve surgery?

Weight loss associated with a sleeve gastrectomy, based on available clinical data, shows patients lose 60 percent of their excess body weight by the end of the first year. That is less than with the gastric bypass procedure, but more than patients achieve with a gastric band.

How does the gastric sleeve procedure differ from gastric bypass or banding?

The procedure is technically less difficult than the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, which reroutes a length of the small intestine to connect to a newly created stomach pouch. However, it's more involved than introducing an adjustable gastric band, which is placed around the outside of the stomach to divide it into a small upper pouch above the band and a larger pouch below the band.

Does insurance cover gastric sleeve surgery?

Like with all elective bariatric surgeries, insurance coverage is based on individual policies.