Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery
Vertical sleeve gastrectomy weight loss surgery involves removing a large part of the stomach, in an up-and-down direction. Instead of your stomach looking like pouch, it ends up shaped more like a banana.
This particular surgery produces weight loss by restricting the volume of food that can be eaten. Here’s something you need to know — 85% (or more) of your stomach is removed, so this surgery is considered permanent; no revisions.
Is it a Bypass Surgery?
With vertical sleeve gastrectomy, there isn’t any bypassing of the intestines, unlike bariatric gastric bypass or duodenal switch surgery.
Sleeve gastrectomy is a restrictive (reduces stomach volume) weight loss surgery, and not a malabsorptive surgery (restrict calories the body can absorb). This can mean fewer side effects after the surgery.
And the other piece of good news — many times, a vertical sleeve surgery can be done as a laparoscopic surgery, meaning a faster recovery time.
Ghrelin and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery
First, what is ghrelin, and why is it important? Ghrelin is a hormone produced by the stomach that is responsible for hunger feelings. Removing the section of the stomach that produces ghrelin, instead of leaving it in place, reduces the Ghrelin secretions to almost zero.
That was the good news. The other side is that since the surgery is so new, it’s not yet known if the Ghrelin levels eventually increase from almost-zero. This is speculative, since patients report that some hunger and cravings do slowly return. Just less than before they had the surgery.
Losing and Keeping the Weight Off
The vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery is an alternative to laparoscopic band surgery for people who are at the lower end of the weight loss surgery qualifications, as measured by the BMI (body mass index).
What’s lower end? It’s considered as having a BMI between 35 and 45.
As to longer-term study (5 years or more), vertical sleeve gastrectomy is a little too new to have a definitive rate, to see how well the weight stays off. It’s expected that people having VSG have a slightly better record for weight loss than does the lap band surgery.
Your stomach is smaller, but because there is no intestinal bypass, there is no decrease in number of calories that are absorbed. So if you live on junk food and high-calorie sweets, this isn’t the surgery for you. Unless of course you’re willing to commit to a lifestyle change.
Video of Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery
View this YouTube video gives a visual idea of what the surgery looks like.