What is Sleeve Gastrectomy?

• A sleeve gastrectomy is a laparoscopic procedure in which the stomach is divided vertically and stapled so that 75 to 80 percent of the stomach is removed.
• The small part of the stomach that remains is shaped like a narrow tube (banana or a “sleeve”) and is connected to the intestine.
• The smaller stomach becomes the new “stomach” of the body and can only hold a small amount of food at one time.
• The small size of the new stomach restricts the amount of food patients can eat at one time by creating a feeling of fullness.
• A sleeve gastrectomy will not affect how the body absorbs food, so patients are less likely to experience nutritional deficiencies.

What is Gastric Bypass surgery?

• Gastric bypass surgery is a type of procedure in which the stomach is divided into a large pouch and a much smaller pouch about the size of a golf ball.
• The small pouch is stapled shut and divided from the large pouch.
• The small stapled pouch is then rerouted to a lower part of the small intestine, bypassing a portion of the upper small intestine.
• The small stapled pouch becomes the new “stomach” of the body.
• The small pouch can only hold about three to four ounces of food at a time, drastically limiting the amount of food you can eat in one sitting.
• The rerouting of the small pouch into the lower small intestine allows for the malabsorption of calories, spurring on more weight loss since fewer calories are absorbed.

What is a revisional bariatric procedure?

A revisional bariatric procedure is one where a patient’s first bariatric surgical procedure is being revised for various reasons. This may include conversion of sleeve gastrectomy to gastric bypass surgery, conversion of gastric band to sleeve gastrectomy, conversion of gastric band to gastric bypass surgery or resizing of the gastric pouch in gastric bypass surgery patients.