Sleeve gastrectomy surgery is a procedure in which a great part of the stomach is removed and transformed into a tube.
Your surgeon will remove approximately 80-85% of the stomach during the surgery, leaving a stomach that is 2-3 cm wide and can intake 60-100ml of liquid or food.
The remaining part of the stomach will be quickly filled with food or liquid when 80-85% of the stomach is removed. Thus, the patient feels more satiated by eating less.
Another benefit is that you will feel less hungry as the part that produces hunger hormones like ghrelin will be removed.
The operation is performed under general anesthesia using a laparoscopic (closed) technique. With the help of laparoscopic instruments, an incision of two centimeters is made in the abdomen, whereby a camera and instruments are placed and used. The stomach is separated by sewing and cutting at the same time with the help of tools like staplers and steel clamps.
This surgery is suitable for patients with a BMI over 30. It is also suitable for women with a BMI over 35 who suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea or problems related to infertility. Sleeve gastrectomy surgery may also be recommended for patients who try to lose weight with the help of dieticians, treatments, or exercise over a period of six to twelve months but get no results.
The sleeve gastrectomy surgery is the most well-known surgery related to obesity as it maintains most of the normal physiological functions of the body after the surgery. The digestive system does not change as food always travels the way from the stomach to the duodenum, small intestine, and large intestine.
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies that occur in other obesity surgeries will not occur for the rest of life after this surgery. In the case of weight gain in the further life, it is possible to have a sleeve gastrectomy surgery or other surgeries performed again. Because the sleeve gastrectomy surgery provides the same results as other obesity surgeries, approximately 60% of the obesity surgeries performed worldwide are sleeve gastrectomy.