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What is Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
Gastric Sleeve Surgery is a procedure where your gastroenterologist will remove up to 80% of your stomach and join the remaining portions together to form a tube or banana-shaped stomach.
This procedure is done to encourage weight loss for those people that are considered to be at least 100 pounds overweight.
With a smaller stomach you will feel full much quicker and also the surgery removes the part of your stomach that makes an appetite boosting hormone.
By reducing the amount of fat on your body you put yourself at a lower risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease and other life-altering diseases.
What Happens During The Surgery?
After the patient is placed under anesthesia, several small incisions are made in the stomach to allow small instruments and a camera to enter the abdomen. The liver is then lifted off of the stomach and the blood vessels that are attached to the part of the stomach that will be removed are sealed and cut. Next, a sizer tube is placed into the stomach to ensure that too much of the stomach is not removed. Then a stapler is used to divide and seal the stomach. Finally, the cut off portion of the stomach is removed from the abdomen.
What Happens Post-Surgery?
The first day after surgery you will only be able to eat clear liquids. After 2 to 3 days you can eat pureed food and protein shakes for the next 4 weeks. After that first month you will be able to eat solid foods again.
You will also need to adopt a few new eating habits as well to not only lose weight but give your body the nutrition that it needs.
- Avoid high-calorie sodas and snacking.
- Don’t drink while you eat. This could cause your stomach to overfill.
- All solid food needs to be chewed thoroughly before being swallowed.
- Take vitamin and mineral supplements every day.
- Try to only drink liquids a half-hour after meal completion.
What Are The Risks Of Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
Gastric Sleeve Surgery is an effective tool that aids someone in losing weight, but there are some risks involved.
Due to the nature of the surgery that are a few short-term issues that can arise like bleeding, pain, and blood clots.
Long-term, patients can experience problems due to lack of nutrition. Also, if the patient does not monitor their eating habits the gastric sleeve can dilate and allow larger amounts of food to be consumed.Other conditions, though rare, can occur such as: stomach ulcers, nausea, stomach obstructions or abscess.