Gastric Sleeve Surgery

Gastric sleeve surgery, also called vertical sleeve gastrectomy, is an irreversible weight loss procedure. It is one of two surgeries offered through MetroHealth Weight Loss Surgery Program. On average, gastric sleeve procedures can help you lose up to 60% of excess weight.

What Is Gastric Sleeve Surgery?

Gastric sleeve surgeries at MetroHealth are laparoscopic. That means your surgeon will make two to five tiny incisions in your stomach, rather than one large incision, and perform the surgery with small tools and an instrument called a laparoscope that is outfitted with a light and a camera. During gastric sleeve surgery, about 75% of your stomach is surgically removed. The remaining portions of the stomach are stapled together. You are left with a much smaller stomach shaped like a tube – about the size and shape of a small banana – in place of your original stomach. The procedure can take 60 to 90 minutes to complete.

Using the laparoscope, your surgeon is able to view your abdomen in detail on a video monitor. People who undergo laparoscopic surgery tend to experience shorter recovery periods, less pain and minimal scarring, as well as decreased risk of infection.

This procedure helps you lose weight by:

• limiting how much food your stomach can hold, which reduces the amount of food you can eat
• helping you feel full and more satisfied after eating smaller amounts of food by affecting digestive hormones

Is Gastric Sleeve Surgery Right for You?

If you have a BMI of less than 45, your weight loss after gastric sleeve would be comparable to that of gastric bypass, the other bariatric surgery offered at MetroHealth, according to Sergio Bardaro, MD, surgical director of the MetroHealth Weight Loss Surgery and Weight Management Center. With either form of surgery, you may need to take nutritional supplements for the long term. Both procedures can reduce your body’s ability to absorb certain vitamins and minerals.

Gastric sleeve surgery requires a relatively short hospital stay. It also is associated with a lower risk of complications than gastric bypass surgery.

“When choosing between gastric sleeve surgery and gastric bypass surgery, we have to consider how many surgeries someone has previously undergone and the medical problems he or she may have,” Dr. Bardaro said. “People who have had more surgeries in the past often have more scar tissue, and performing gastric bypass surgery on these individuals can decrease the safety of the operation.”

Dr. Bardaro notes that people who are younger or want to have children in the future may be better candidates for gastric sleeve.

On the other hand, gastric bypass surgery may be better for you if you have severe acid reflux, and/or a BMI over 45 and were on insulin for diabetes for less than eight years.

Your surgeon will work with you to determine which surgery is best for you.

“It is important to come in with an open mind and be willing to consider how different options could potentially meet your needs,” Dr. Bardaro said. “That being said, we never want to plan a surgery you do not want. It is not a one-way decision. It is an agreement between you and our providers based on your history and the challenges you wish to overcome.”

Gastric Sleeve Surgery at MetroHealth

Gastric sleeve surgery is currently the most commonly performed bariatric surgery in the U.S. Our bariatric surgeons are highly trained, skilled physicians with extensive experience performing this particular operation.

About Dr. Bardaro:

• Board-certified surgeon with fellowship training who has done extensive research in advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery
• Vice President and President-elect of The Ohio-Kentucky Chapter of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery 
• Fellow of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and the American College of Surgeons
• Mentored by Michel Gagner, MD, the bariatric surgeon who paved the way for the use of gastric sleeve surgery as a standalone bariatric procedure

“Having skilled bariatric surgeons performing the sleeve is important. It is a very complex procedure and requires a high level of technical skills, experience and surgical expertise to be done safely and well.” 

Plus, the experience we have at MetroHealth performing gastric sleeve surgery means better outcomes and a reduced risk of complications for you.”

Sergio Bardaro, MD
Director of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery