What is Revisional Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery?
Sleeve gastrectomy converts your stomach into a small approximately 120cc vertical tube, or sleeve. It’s a popular and effective choice, however, some patients will stop losing weight or begin regaining weight after the first year. This may be the result of your sleeve stretching.
In this case, which is confirmed via endoscopy, there are two options: repeating the sleeve gastrectomy procedure, or the Band over Sleeve, similar to Band over Bypass.
Repeating the sleeve gastrectomy is an option when the procedure was effective for the first year. However, it involves stapling over your original staple line, which causes the risk of complication to be a bit higher than other forms of revisional surgery.
Many patients are choosing the lap band over sleeve gastrectomy, or Band over Sleeve. Abdominal incisions are also required here, however, no additional stapling is required. Therefore, this carries less risk, while offering very effective long term results for weight loss.
How Does Revisional Lap Band Surgery Work?
As opposed to either gastric bypass or gastric sleeve, lap band surgery does not involve permanent physical changes to your body. It must be carefully paid attention to and adjusted for long term results.
However, for those who have experienced complications or have not seen the desired level of weight loss, revisional surgery involves a choice of one of those two aforementioned procedures, the gastric bypass or vertical sleeve gastrectomy.
Each of these procedures carries its own advantages. Sleeve gastrectomy is less invasive than gastric bypass, and leaves your intestinal tract intact. It is commonly recommended for individuals who began seeing results with lap band but regained weight.
Gastric bypass has a 40 year track record of success and works through both restriction and malabsorption. It is commonly recommended for those who never saw weight loss results with lap band, or who are diabetic.
The Bottom Line on Revisional Surgery
It’s important that prospective patients understand that revisional surgery entails a higher level of technical challenge and therefore a higher complication risk. It’s crucial to find experienced, skilled surgeons who regularly perform revisional bariatric surgery.
It’s also important to continue to live a healthier lifestyle and take a multi-disciplined approach to losing weight and maintaining weight loss. That’s why we offer all of our patients a comprehensive bariatric program including patient education, support groups, mentors, and more.
Call our expert team at 800.633.8446 to learn more about revisional weight loss surgery in New York, or sign up for one of our educational seminars today.