Everything You Need To Know About Gastric Sleeve
Have you been struggling to lose weight with years of restricted diets and strenuous exercises? If you still have a lot of weight to lose, surgery may be the solution you’re looking for! Sleeve gastrectomy, aka gastric sleeve has become one of the most sought-after bariatric surgeries for patients seeking excellent weight loss.
Hermes Clinics always works with professional surgeons in their fields. These doctors, who work with Hermes, the pioneer in the medical field in Turkey, have been helping thousands of men and women to achieve weight loss goals by gastric sleeve surgery. Read on to find more about sleeve gastrectomy.
Approximate Length of Stay: 5~6 Nights
Hospital Stay: 3~4 Days
Operation Duration: 1 Hour
Anesthesia: General Anesthesia
Approximate Recovery: 2 Weeks
What Is Gastric Sleeve?
Gastric sleeve, also referred to as vertical sleeve gastrectomy by medical professionals, is a weight loss surgical procedure that aims to help you lose weight by restricting your food intake. Gastric sleeve is performed as a laparoscopic surgery, which involves inserting a long thin tube (with a tiny camera and light attached to it) through multiple small incisions.
During surgery, a significant part of your stomach will be removed and remaining portions will be joined together to make a “sleeve” or a banana-sized stomach.
The gastric sleeve, weight loss surgery removes about 75% to 80% of your stomach so that you can feel full by eating less food. After the surgery, you’ll feel reduced appetite because a smaller stomach will produce relatively low levels of ghrelin, a hormone that causes hunger.
Why Is It Performed?
Gastric sleeve is typically performed after you’ve tried dietary changes and exercise habits to lose weight without long-term success. This surgery can help you lose extra pounds, thereby reducing the risks associated with obesity, such as:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Stroke
- High cholesterol
- Hypertension
- Heart disease
- Obstructive sleep apnea
You’re an ideal candidate for gastric sleeve surgery if:
- If you have obesity with a body mass index (BMI) of 32 or higher.
- If you have a BMI of 35 to 39.9 with a serious health condition, such as severe sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, or hypertension.
How Is Gastric Sleeve Surgery Performed?
Typically, sleeve gastrectomy is performed laparoscopically. Before starting the surgery, your doctor gives you general anesthesia that helps you keep asleep during the surgery. The surgeon makes small incisions in your abdominal wall to insert tube with a ting camera and a light. The stomach in then divided into two unequal parts by a stapler.
The 80% part of the stomach is cut and removed and the remaining part of the stomach is stapled. This banana-shaped part of the stomach is about 20-25% of the original stomach volume.
After the surgery is performed, you will be shifted to the recovery room where you’ll be given postoperative care. Since gastric sleeve is a minimally-invasive procedure, it helps the small incisions in your abdomen heal and recover faster. You will be allowed to go home four days after your surgery.
Dietary Changes After Your Gastric Sleeve Surgery:
After you have undergone the surgery, you will be recommended liquid foods (non-carbonated and sugar-free) for first seven days. For next three weeks, your diet will be transformed from liquid to pureed food. You will change to solid food regularly four weeks after surgery.
While your meals will be in much smaller quantities, your doctor will recommend a calcium supplement once a day and a multivitamin twice a day. You will also have to increase your physical activity gradually. Do not forget to stay hydrated during your recovery period from surgery.
Is Sleeve Gastrectomy Effective?
At Hermes Clinics, you can experience weight loss in two ways:
- Gastric sleeve will make your stomach significantly smaller so that you can stop eating sooner and you feel full. This will help you consume fewer calories.
- This surgery will cause your stomach produce less ghrelin, the hormone associated with hunger.
With gastric sleeve surgery, you can lose up to 80% of your extra weight within just 12 to 18 months. This will only be possible when you adhere to your exercise plan and dietary routine recommended by your surgeon. You can keep your weight off long term by adopting these lifestyle changes.
Potential Benefits Of Gastric Sleeve Surgery To Our Patients:
The following are some benefits that gastric sleeve at our Hermes Clinics in Turkey provides to their patients:
- Reduction in your hunger levels.
- Reduced production of ghrelin hormone, resulting in lower calorie intake.
- No re-routing of intestines.
- Relatively short operating time than gastric bypass.
- The patient experiences no dumping syndrome.
- Weight loss experienced over 18 months.
Are There Any Risks Associated With Gastric Sleeve?
Although gastric sleeve is considered a relatively safe procedure, however, it may carry some risks and complications like any other bariatric surgery. Common complications include:
- Pulmonary Embolism: This condition occurs when part of a blood clot travels to your lungs after breaking off.
- Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT): Your risk of forming a blood clot in your vein, especially leg vein increases during the surgery and recovery process.
- Hemorrhage: You can experience severe shock when there is bleeding inside your body or from surgical wound.
Some possible side effects of this surgery also include:
- Vitamin Deficiencies: Gastric sleeve involves the removing the part of stomach responsible for the absorption of essential vitamins. You should therefore take vitamin supplements to prevent vitamin deficiencies.
- GERD: This condition, also known as heartburn, can be experienced more due to a reshaped stomach. This can be treated with over-the-counter medications.
- Gastric Leaks: happens when stomach fluid leaks from the stomach line where it was stapled.
The Bottom Line:
Gastric sleeve is one of the best procedures performed by professional and experiences surgeons through Hermes Clinics in Turkey. Gastric sleeve works to help you lose extra weight by reducing the size of your stomach, making you consume less food.
Since it all depends on bariatric practices, it is important for you to choose a team who knows how to successfully achieve better results for each patient. Hermes Clinics, through its professional doctors is dedicated to helping patients achieve their desired weight loss goals with the best tools.