The vertical sleeve gastrectomy or VSG is a weight loss surgery that involves removing the outer portion of your stomach, leaving behind a vertical gastric sleeve. The procedure removes about 80% of your stomach.
However, unlike other types of bariatric surgery, the surgeon doesn’t bypass any part of your stomach. Your new stomach remains attached to the first section of your small intestine — the duodenum.
The VSG helps you lose weight by significantly reducing the size of your stomach, limiting the amount of food you can eat. The VSG also helps you lose weight by decreasing your appetite.
During the procedure, your surgeon removes the portion of your stomach that secretes most of the hunger hormones. Without the hunger hormones, you feel less hungry and get full faster.
By helping with hunger control, the VSG makes it easier for you to get to a healthy weight and stay there.
The VSG offers many advantages when compared to other types of bariatric surgery. Surgeons consider the VSG a simple and quick procedure.
When using laparoscopic surgery, the VSG may take one to two hours. By comparison, a gastric bypass may take two to four hours.
The simplicity of the procedure and shorter surgical time means surgeons can perform the VSG on patients not suitable for other weight loss procedures because of underlying health issues.
The AZ Weight Loss Clinic team may also recommend the VSG as a first step procedure for those with serious weight challenges and health complications. Once you reach a healthier weight, the team may perform a gastric bypass to help you reach your goal weight.
You can lose a significant amount of weight from the VSG, but this procedure has less of an impact on the metabolism than gastric bypass. You absorb fewer calories following a gastric bypass because the surgeon bypasses a portion of your small intestine when attaching your new stomach pouch.
The team at AZ Weight Loss Clinic determines if you’re a candidate for VSG after a consultation. They may consider you a candidate if you have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher or a BMI of 35 or higher with weight-related health issues like diabetes or heart disease.
They may also consider you a candidate for the VSG if you have severe weight challenges with health-related complications and you’re not a candidate for other surgeries.
To find out more about vertical sleeve gastrectomy, call AZ Weight Loss Clinic or schedule a consultation online today.