Sleeve surgery for weight loss

What does weight loss have to do withsleeves?

Sleevegastrectomy is a another name for vertical gastrectomy, and this is asurgical procedure that belongs to restrictive weight loss surgery.This type of surgery causes people who underwent it to experienceweight loss. This is the effect of restricted amounts of food that can beconsumed before the person who has gone through this type of surgerybegins to feel full.

How it works

Verticalgastrectomy leaves only a minor part of the stomach for processingfood, and thus limits the size of meals that can be consumed afterthe surgery to just about one ounce.

Thistype of surgery is usually done on patients who are either toooverweight and for whom other types of weight loss surgeries will notwork initially. Once these patients loose some weight, another typeof weight loss surgery is performed.

Whatis essential regardless of the surgery is that the patient must makeradical changes in their lifestyle, eating habits and food intake ifthe procedure is to be successful in the long run. The catch isthat the stomach possesses the natural ability to stretch in order toaccommodate food, and it can outgrow the small capacity imposed bysleeve gastrectomy. To avoid stretching, meals must be small,typically no more than half a cup. Prevention of solid food intakecan be performed by drinking lots of fluids that will fill thestomach and leave no space for solid food for some time.

Procedure

Thesurgery is typically performed under general anesthesia. It is alaparoscopic procedure, which means that necessary incisions are nolonger than an inch or two. Still, in some cases, open surgery willbe necessary from the beginning, or what began as laparoscopicprocedure must be converted to the open procedure. This is done outof necessity. Up to 85% of the stomach is removed during theprocedure, and what remains is joined by staples. This results in asmaller stomach, which is tubular in shape. Of course, sphinctermuscles at the top and the bottom of the stomach are preserved sothat the normal function of the stomach is retained.

Targetaudience

Forpeople who are overweight, this procedure is used as analternative for gastric bypass surgeries, which would be ineffective.Also, this procedure is used when patients who are candidates forgastric bypass surgery need to loose some weight but can't do it ontheir own. Gastric bypass is done once the body of such a person hasbeen reduced to acceptable dimensions by effects of sleevegastrectomy.

Thisprocedure is not so effective in patients who are not morbidly obese.