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Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

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Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy is a weight loss surgery to help with extreme weight loss. During the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy the surgeon will remove a large portion of your stomach. This results in a new, smaller stomach which is about the size of a banana. Vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery limits the amount of food you can eat by making you feel full after eating small amounts of food.

Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy – Bariatric Surgery

Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy requires anesthesia. This will make you fall asleep and pain-free. Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy is usually done laparoscopy, by using a tiny camera that is placed in your belly. It allows your surgeon to see inside your stomach and make smaller incisions.
In the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy 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 stomach.
  • Your surgeon will insert thin surgical instruments through the openings.
  • Your surgeon will remove about 80 – 85%) your stomach.
  • The remaining part of your stomach is 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.
  • Surgery may take only 60 – 90 minutes.

When you eat after having the Vertical Gastric Sleeve surgery, the small pouch will fill up quickly. You will feel full after eating just a very small amount of food; this will help you lose weight quickly.

Why Choose Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy will greatly change your lifestyle. You must continue to diet and exercise after this surgery. You may have complications from the surgery and poor weight loss if you do not diet and exercise.
The Vertical sleeve 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 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 an additional weight loss surgery. This procedure cannot be reversed once it has been done.