What is Sleeve Gastrectomy?
This involves converting the stomach into a long thin tube by stapling it along its length and removing the excess stomach. There is no gastric pouch like ‘Gastric bypass operation’; here the food passes straight into the small bowel, similar to the route it took prior to the surgery. However, the stomach is smaller in size and will hold less, hence the feeling of fullness & satiety. The procedure can be the first phase of a two stage operation which can either be a pancreatico-biliary diversion or a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass few months later. Patients who have a sleeve gastrectomy lose a considerable amount of weight and they may not need to undergo further surgery. Patients can loose up to 70% of their excess weight with a sleeve gastrectomy alone. The general complications of a sleeve gastrectomy are the same as the other weight reduction operations.
The commonest specific complication is leakage from the staple line.
Click here for Pancreaticobiliary bypass