Vertical sleeve gastrectomy - Overview

Definition of Vertical sleeve gastrectomy :

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy is surgery to help with weight loss. The surgeon removes a large portion of your stomach.

The new, smaller stomach is about the size of a banana. It limits the amount of food you can eat by making you feel full after eating small amounts of food.

See also:

• Gastric bypass surgery
• Laparoscopic gastric banding
• Obesity

Description:

You will receive general anesthesia before this surgery. This will make you asleep and pain-free.

The surgery is usually done using a tiny camera that is placed in your belly. This type of surgery is called laparoscopy. The camera is called a laparoscope. It allows your surgeon to see inside your belly.

In this surgery:

• Your surgeon will make 2 to 5 small cuts in your abdomen.
• The surgeon will pass the laparoscope and the instruments needed to perform the surgery through these openings.
• The camera is connected to a video monitor in the operating room. Your surgeon will look at the monitor to see inside your belly.
• Your surgeon will insert thin surgical instruments through the other openings.

Your surgeon will remove most (about 80 - 85%) your stomach.

• The remaining portions of your stomach are joined together using staples. This creates a long vertical tube or banana-shaped stomach.
• The surgery does not involve cutting or changing the sphincter muscles that allow food to enter or leave the stomach
• Your surgery may take only 60 - 90 minutes if your surgeon has done many of these procedures.

When you eat after having this surgery, the small pouch will fill up quickly. You will feel full after eating just a very small amount of food.

Weight-loss surgery may increase your risk for gallstones. Your doctor may recommend having a cholecystectomy (surgery to remove your gallbladder) before your surgery or at the same time.

Why the Procedure Is Performed:

Weight-loss surgery may be an option if you are very obese and have not been able to lose weight through diet and exercise.

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy is not a "quick fix" for obesity. It will greatly change your lifestyle. You must diet and exercise after this surgery. You may have complications from the surgery and poor weight loss if you don’t diet and exercise.

This procedure may be recommended for you if you have:

• A body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more. Someone with a BMI of 40 or more is at least 100 pounds over their recommended weight. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 25.
• A BMI of 35 or more and a serious medical condition that might improve with weight loss. Some of these conditions are sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy has most often been done on patients who are too heavy to safely have other types of weight-loss surgery. Some patients may eventually need a second weight-loss surgery.

This procedure cannot be reversed once it has been done.