Many people have been turning to surgical weight loss these days in order to lose excessive amounts of weight. Doing so improves the overall quality of life that you can experience and prevents major health complications associated with obesity and morbid obesity, such as heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and certain kinds of cancers. One surgery that has been gaining in popularity is gastric sleeve surgery. The team here at our Orange County surgical weight loss center would like to take a moment right now to look at the procedure and what it can do for patients.

What is gastric sleeve surgery?

A gastric sleeve surgery is a type of bariatric procedure that reduces the size of the stomach. In many cases, the size of the stomach is reduced to one-quarter of its original size. When you come to the office for a consultation, our bariatric surgeons in Orange County will determine if the gastric sleeve surgery is right for you.

How does gastric sleeve surgery work?

Gastric sleeve surgery is a restrictive weight loss procedure. There are three general classifications of surgical weight loss procedures: restrictive, malabsorptive, and combined restrictive and malabsorptive.

Restrictive weight loss surgery reduces the stomach size, hence altering the appetite and limiting caloric intake. Malabsorptive weight loss surgery will alter the digestive tract and bypass part of the small intestine, reducing the amount of calories absorbed into the system. Combined surgery, as you can imagine, refers to both methods used together for weight loss.

How does gastric sleeve surgery differ from other surgical weight loss options?

There are two popular weight loss surgeries that we’ll use to compare to Orange County gastric sleeve surgery. First let’s look at gastric bypass surgery.

A gastric bypass is a malabsorptive weight loss procedure. While both gastric bypass surgery and gastric sleeve surgery involve changes to parts of the digestive tract, they obviously target different organs and achieve weight loss through different means.

Another popular option for surgical weight loss is gastric banding. Both gastric banding and gastric sleeve procedures are restrictive weight loss techniques. Gastric banding achieves shrinking of the stomach capacity by closing off part of the stomach with a silicone band. Gastric banding is easier to reverse than gastric sleeve surgery.

Ideal Candidates for Gastric Sleeve Surgery

The best candidates for gastric sleeve surgery are people who are obese or morbidly obese that need to lose weight for health reasons. They should not suffer from any kinds of health problems that would prevent them from undergoing surgery of any kind.

Ideally these patients should be adults since bariatric surgery is rarely performed on teens. Studies are still being conducted concerning the effects of bariatric surgery on teenagers. In extreme circumstances, it will be performed, but it will need to be considered on a case by case basis at our Orange County bariatrics and weight loss surgery center.

It’s important that you meet with your physician as well as our team before you undergo any sort of major surgery like this. It’s also important that patients try to lose as much weight as they can naturally before turning to surgical intervention.

Learn More About Bariatric Surgery and Weight Loss

For more information about bariatric surgery and how it can improve your health and help enhance your life, be sure to contact our Orange County obesity surgery practice today. The entire team looks forward to your visit and helping you achieve the best possible results.