Plastic Surgeons in Beverly Hills - Los Angeles - Plastic Surgery

Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery

Beverly Hills Physicians is a network of board-certified, highly skilled surgeons, specialists, and health care providers with over 100 years of combined experience. Our surgeons are committed to helping their patients live healthy, fulfilled lives, and one of our specialty areas—weight loss surgery—is focused specifically on this. If you’re experiencing difficulty losing a significant amount of weight on your own, you’re not alone. Set up a free consultation with us today to see if weight loss surgery, such as sleeve gastrectomy, is right for you.

What is Sleeve Gastrectomy?

Alternately known as gastric sleeve surgery, gastric reduction, and vertical gastroplasty, a sleeve gastrectomy is a procedure that aims to remove a portion of the stomach to significantly reduce its size. While it is often used as a treatment for stomach cancer, gastric sleeve surgery has been used as a form of bariatric surgery to great effect.

Other bariatric procedures often alter the outlet valve or the stomach nerves. While gastric sleeve surgery does reduce your stomach’s size, it leaves its functions intact. This leads to fewer restrictions on what you can eat after the surgery, though you will naturally end up eating less. Removing so much of the stomach also eliminates the chemicals that cause you to feel hungry. One of the key advantages to sleeve gastrectomy is that it avoids intestinal bypass, eliminating complications that include intestinal blockage, ulcers, osteoporosis, anemia, and vitamin and protein deficiencies. This makes the gastric sleeve procedure safe for patients with existing conditions like anemia and Crohn’s disease.

How is it Performed?

During a gastric sleeve procedure, the surgeon removes about 85 percent of the patient’s stomach and staples the remaining stomach sections together, leaving a dramatically smaller stomach that is cylindrical and banana-like in shape (like a sleeve). Depending on the surgical technique, the capacity of the new stomach ranges between 60 and 150 milliliters, which is approximately one quarter the volume potential of a normal stomach.

For patients with a high body mass index, a laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery is a great first stage procedure for treating weight loss and can be followed up with other bariatric surgeries. For obese patients with a lower BMI, sleeve gastrectomy can be used alone as a bariatric treatment.

Why Have a Sleeve Gastrectomy?

Obesity can lead to a wide range of life-threatening diseases, but it can make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin, affecting your self-esteem and confidence. A sleeve gastrectomy could help you regain confidence and make you feel much more comfortable as yourself, enabling you to continue a healthy lifestyle for years to come. Our surgeons can also follow up your dramatic weight loss with a tummy tuck, body lift, or other cosmetic procedure. We also have professional nutritionists who can provide you with a detailed diet plan and workout program to ensure you keep the weight off.

At Beverly Hills Physicians, our team of experienced consultants and health care providers is dedicated to helping you reach important personal goals. If you have any questions about any bariatric procedures we offer or would like a free consultation, please contact us today. We have several convenient Southern California locations, including Beverly Hills, Encino, Thousand Oaks, Valencia, Pasadena, Carson, Oxnard, and Rancho Cucamonga.