LapSleeveSM Sleeve Gastrectomy
The LapSleeve is a minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure that is a modification of a known procedure called the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. To date we have done over 100 outpatient procedures with safety results similar to outpatient gastric banding. Puget Sound Surgical Center is the only center in the world providing this procedure as a same day surgery. We recently presented our superior surgical results at the national meeting of SAGES (Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons) in Phoenix, Arizona in April 2009.
Patient success is due to detailed patient selection and education, meticulous technique with short operative times, and careful postoperative management. Pain, nausea and scarring have been minimal. Patient satisfaction is quite high. Within days patients are back to usual activity and return to work in one to two weeks.The surgery involves removing a portion of the stomach, the fundus. This provides superior restriction when compared to gastric banding, since the restriction extends the length of the stomach. Also, the LapSleeve significantly reduces hunger in part by decreasing the hunger hormone ghrelin. When patients are hungry, appetite is quickly satisfied with a small amount of food. Unlike gastric banding, the LapSleeve does not require the implantation of an artificial device. Patients with the LapSleeve can tolerate denser types of foods than those who have gastric banding.
LapSleeve is a simpler operation than the gastric bypass, since there is no "rerouting" of the intestines. Weight loss with LapSleeve is very similar to those who have gastric bypass surgery. Patients with lower body mass index (BMI) are losing close to 100% of their excess weight the first year.
Historically, patients with a body mass index greater than 60 had the sleeve gastrectomy as the first part of a 2-stage operation (the duodenal switch). Surgeons found that doing the sleeve gastrectomy alone resulted in significant weight loss and many did not need the second stage (intestinal bypass) of the duodenal switch.
We are proud to have the most experience with the sleeve gastrectomy in the Pacific Northwest and the only center worldwide doing same day LapSleeve surgery. We offer the LapSleeve as a primary weight loss operation for patients more than 50 pounds overweight. Click here to watch a video on the LapSleeve procedure, performed by Dr. Billing and Dr. Landerholm.
The LapSleeve has a number of advantages over other bariatric procedures:
- Performed in under an hour and home same day
- Recovery and complication rate similar to gastric banding procedures
- Does not require disconnecting/reconnecting the intestines
- Safer option for patients considering gastric bypass with a body mass index more than 60
- No device implanted with need for maintenance
- Nutritional concerns less than the bypass patient
For more information please refer to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Clinical Issues Committee statement on Sleeve Gastrectomy as a bariatric procedure, by clicking here.
