Gastric sleeve surgery

The surgery is laparoscopic (using the keyhole technique) and involves making a total of five small incisions in the upper abdomen. The surgery aims to reduce the size of the stomach by about 75 per cent. For this purpose, a part of the stomach is removed and the rest of it is closed with a special stapler. The normal gastrointestinal passage is maintained. In other words, food still passes through the oesophagus into the rest of the stomach, and then into the small intestine via the duodenum.

Reducing the capacity means the patient very quickly becomes full, and the feeling lasts for a long time. There are also hormonal changes following gastric sleeve surgery. This quickly leads to lasting weight reduction.

Close follow-up ensuing gastric sleeve surgery

Since the volume of the stomach is reduced, patients can only eat smaller amounts of food. The lower food intake means they need to take additional vitamins and trace elements. Heartburn (reflux) may occur or worsen as a consequence of gastric sleeve surgery. While this is true of about 30 per cent of patients, in the vast majority of cases it can be treated using medication without any problems. If this is not possible, renewed surgery and conversion to a gastric bypass may be considered.

Mucosal changes in the oesophagus have been observed in cases where patients suffer from acid reflux into the oesophagus. This is why we recommend that all patients who have undergone gastric sleeve surgery have lifelong gastroscopy check-ups (initially after three years, then every five years if the findings are unremarkable). Some other bariatric surgeries are also still possible with the gastric sleeve if it does not have the desired effect. Please consult your bariatric surgeon about this.