Gastric Sleeve bariatric surgery is a laparoscopically performed surgical procedure which removes around 70-80% of a patient’s stomach, in particular that part which produces the hunger hormone, Ghrelin.  First appearing in the medical journals early in the 1990's, this procedure has been steadily gaining popularity and building a successful track record of patient weight loss success.

In this surgery only the upper portion of the stomach, shaped like a sleeve, is left to perform the routine functions of the stomach. Within the initial two years after surgery, a patient can expect to lose at least 60% of his/her total excess body weight. Furthermore, since only a portion of the stomach is removed rather than the small intestine, nutrition absorption is not affected, clearly a different approach than Gastric Bypass where the patient's ability to absorb food is radically reduced.

Gastric Sleeve surgery is growing in popularity because it has some distinct advantages over traditional Gastric Bypass surgery:

1. Gastric Sleeve surgery has a high success rate, with few patient complaints.
2. It is a simpler operation compared to Gastric Bypass and therefore a safer procedure.
3. Risk of post-operative complication such as leakage is smaller because less complex suturing is required.
4. Unlike Gastric Band, no foreign objects remain in the body after Gastric Sleeve procedure.

Although the procedure is irreversible, you can overcome it by continuously eating small portions of food.  Some patients have stretched the remaining stomach to more than 50% of the size of their original stomach.  In such cases a patient may choose to convert their sleeve to a gastric bypass which will make it easier to control nutritional intake.  This strategy is more common for severely obese patients.

Patients typically experience a 50 to 60 percent reduction in excess body weight with this procedure.  One benefit is that the stomach functions as normal; it is just smaller, so unlike a bypass, it is not as restrictive in terms of the foods you can eat afterwards - only the quantities.  Nutritional deficiencies are far rarer as a result, too. Complications such as intestinal blockage are rare, and a sleeve may be suitable for patients who are at too high risk for bypass due to various medical conditions.

There are risks inherent in any major surgery, including infection. Sometimes the 'new' stomach will leak from the staple lines down the edge. Complications occur in between three and seven percent of cases. Death is comparatively rare compared to other bariatric surgery, but still occurs in up to one in 200 cases. The operation is quite safe, and as surgical experience increases, risks will likely decrease

Typically a patient will stay in hospital for only a couple days.  Recovery is fast, scarring is minimal.  Post-op patients are put on a liquid diet for several weeks and gradually introduced to semi-solid food  like baby food for a couple weeks thereafter.  After about a month the typical patient can fully return to solid foods.  Nutritional limits forced upon the patient, assuming full compliance, will result in rapid weight loss for the first 6-12 months after surgery.

Patients have a wide set of choices when it comes to weight loss surgery. With the increasingly positive feedback that Gastric Sleeve is receiving within the bariatric medical community, it's no wonder that some predict Gastric Sleeve many one day overtake Gastric Bypass as the preferred weight loss surgery solution.