Advantages of Gastric Sleeve Surgery
There are a lot of Advantages of Gastric Sleeve Surgery, but there are still critical surgical information you need to fully understand for long term sucess. When considering the gastric sleeve as a solution to your weight problem, you must look at all the facts, the risks, the advantages of gastric sleeve surgery, and the disadvantages as well. Here we will give you an overview of the advantages of Gastric Sleeve Surgery.
Click here to read about the Downsides to Gastric Sleeve Surgery.
One of the biggest advantages of gastric sleeve surgery is that it can help you lose anywhere from 50% to 80% of the excess weight within two years, which is a healthy gradual weight loss, but keep in mind that the end results can differ from person to person. After the weight loss procedure, your food intake will be limited which is another one of the advantages of gastric sleeve surgery, so you will need to adjust your diet accordingly. Sticking to the plan your bariatric surgeon has laid out for you, and regular visits will ensure that you stay on the path to a healthier you.
Advantages of Gastric Sleeve Surgery – In General
One of the best advantages of gastric sleeve surgery is that it is by far the most effective type of weight loss surgery when compared to the other types of bariatric surgery. The reason behind this is no foreign tools or objects are positioned inside the body, unlike in the lap band weight loss surgery. With the gastric sleeve weight loss procedure, instead of an apparatus being placed inside your body or around your stomach, a portion of the stomach is cut and is taken out.
Advantages of Gastric Sleeve Surgery
Here are some the major advantages of gastric sleeve surgery:
- Food intake is permanently limited, reducing the chance of regaining the excess weight.
- No production of Ghrelin, which equals no hunger.
- Lose 50% to 80% of the excess weight within 2 years.
- The digestive system is not altered.
- Food is digested normally.
- Will not cause any malabsorption.
- No rerouting of your intestines.
- No foreign objects or apparatus inserted into the body.
- No foreign objects or apparatus to be removed from the body afterwards.
As you’ve read in other areas on this site, the gastric sleeve basically removes a portion of your stomach. Take note that this is all that is done during the procedure, and as a result, your food intake will be reduced. Since your food intake is limited, you may need to take vitamin supplements to make up for any nutrients that may be lacking, but the digestive system is not altered which is one of the most important advantages of gastric sleeve surgery. The small intestines are not bypassed, the only thing that happens is the stomach is reduced in size. This means that your digestive system stays intact which is one of the biggest advantages of gastric sleeve surgery. Food is digested normally, your body is able to absorb all the nutrients and calories as it normally would.
Your food intake will be permanently limited, and this is another one of the major advantages of gastric sleeve surgery. This means that you will be better equipped to keep that excess weight off. Many other weight loss procedures carry the risk of gaining the weight back, such as liposuction, but the gastric sleeve removes a portion of your stomach. Since the stomach is smaller, the amount of food you can eat at one sitting is reduced. This will help you psychologically as well. Many people that are obese have gained that weight because of the lack of control over the amount of food they put in their mouths. With a gastric sleeve, you won’t have a choice, even if you want to eat more, you won’t be able to because you will already feel full.
Will I Always Be Hungry?
No. You may think that because you’re eating so much less food, you will always be hungry. This is NOT the case. The gastric sleeve procedure removes the part of the stomach that excretes Ghrelin. Ghrelin is the hormone which stimulates hunger, but since that part of the stomach has been removed the hormone is not produced, hence, no hunger. The absence of Ghrelin is one of the great advantages of gastric sleeve surgery.
What About Malabsorption?
In reality, the gastric sleeve process will not cause any malabsorption. This is without a doubt a positive note to this procedure. When you compare the gastric sleeve to malabsorptive procedures, this is a definite advantage for the gastric sleeve.
Other forms of bariatric surgery, such as the gastric bypass, alter your digestive system, how food travels from the stomach to the intestines, and that can cause malabsorption. No malabsorption is one of the big advantages of gastric sleeve surgery.
What About The Rerouting Of My Intestines?
No rerouting of your intestines will be done with a gastric sleeve. Your digestive system remains completely intact, and you will digest food normally…it’s just that you will digest less food due to the limited stomach capacity. No rerouting of the intestines means that the gastric sleeve carries much less risk than a gastric bypass, but still delivers the exact same results.
No Foreign Objects In The Body
Another one of the advantages of gastric sleeve surgery is that no type of foreign object will be put inside your body. In many cases, the patient’s body can reject a foreign object, such as a titanium pin for broken bones, or a metal plate for head injuries. The same thing goes for weight loss. Many patients who want to lose weight may choose to go with a gastric band, but in lots of cases, the patient’s body sees the gastric band as a threat and fights it. This causes the body to reject it, and the time and money spent to get the gastric band is wasted.
This is not the case with the gastric sleeve. As mentioned before, a portion of the stomach is removed, and that’s it. The only things inserted into the body are surgical staples, and those are used to seal the stomach up. Surgical staples are very rarely rejected by the body. In some cases, sutures can be used, but most surgeons will recommend the surgical staples. This lack of foreign objects is one of the best advantages of gastric sleeve surgery.
Having something put in to your body, such as a gastric band, will mean that is will need to be taken out again. That means another trip to the surgeon, and going under the knife again. If you have a band placed around your stomach, you will need to visit the surgeon for your scheduled adjustment or the “fills”, but with a gastric sleeve you won’t need to worry about that. Also, the gastric band will need to removed after a period of time, roughly 12 months or so. And if you’ve chosen a gastric balloon, that too will need to be taken out after a few months.
One of the major advantages of gastric sleeve surgery is that it is one single procedure, a couple days stay in the hospital to recover, and a few follow up visits as with any other bariatric procedure. With the gastric sleeve, nothing is inserted into you, so nothing needs to be taken out again.
The Advantages of Gastric Sleeve Surgery make the gastric sleeve one of the best options, and it can outweigh many of the other weight loss procedures. It is still strongly advised that you seek the opinion of the experts before you commit to any weight loss procedure, so find out all the disadvantages and the Advantages of Gastric Sleeve Surgery.
