While most people are familiar with weight loss surgeries such as lapbands and bypasses, the sleeve surgery is a relatively newcomer to the weight loss https://emilybrydon.com/hunter-schafer-before/ arena. The reason this new development is quickly surpassing many other forms of medical weight loss plans is that it is safer, easier and often more successful than the others.
The sleeve surgery is a two part process where initially, the patient is put under a general anesthesia and a couple of small incisions are made. In one incision a laparoscopic scope is place inside the abdominal cavity so the surgeon can see the site, and in the other incision tools are used to staple the stomach along its length, reducing it by up to 85%, and turning it into a tube or “sleeve” rather than a full pouch.
Technically the sleeve surgery works the same way a lapband or stomach stapling laterally works: It cuts down the amount of food a patient can consume, thereby creating rapid weight loss. Many of the same risks of the other weight loss surgeries are shared with the this surgery however, sleeve surgeries are more successful because as a second step, about 18 months after the first surgery, patients often undergo a second laparoscopic surgery to create a bypass or duodenal surgery. This procedure makes the second stage of the sleeve surgery much more successful because a great amount of weight is already lost, so the bypass works better than when it is done as a first step on its own.
Like most weight loss surgeries, patients who want such surgeries must quit smoking for at least one month prior to the surgery, and continue to not smoke for up to one month afterwards. This helps prevent many of the higher risks of infection and leaking that can accompany abdominal surgery.
Following the rapid weight loss of the sleeve surgery, patients may end up with a great deal of excess skin that may require plastic surgery to get rid of for aesthetic reasons. Because this is a purely aesthetic situation, most insurance companies will not pay for this type of surgery.
Sleeve surgeries also share some other aspects with common weight loss surgery processes. Since very little food can be eaten, and the smaller absorption area remains, patients will need to take vitamins for the rest of their lives to compensate for the lack in food they can eat, and lower absorption ability of the remaining stomach.