Our team of experts is at the forefront of weight loss surgery. We will work with you to find the best weight loss procedure for your goals and needs. The laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is one of the surgery options we offer at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Laparoscopic techniques use only a few tiny incisions (cuts), unlike traditional open surgery. The laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is considered a minimally invasive approach. This means it’s safer and you have a faster recovery time than if you had open surgery.
In this procedure, surgeons remove the outer portion (also called crescent) of the stomach so that the new stomach looks like a narrow sleeve.
Surgeons remove the portion of the stomach that makes a major appetite-regulating hormone called ghrelin. After surgery, the stomach is reduced to the size of a banana resulting in a much smaller stomach. You also have a change in hormone levels that leads to less hunger. As a result, you lose weight. Sleeve gastrectomy is the newest and most popular type of weight loss surgery.
After treatment, you can expect to:
After surgery, improvements to weight-related health conditions are very common. These can include sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes among others. In some cases, these conditions may even resolve completely after weight loss surgery.
You need to have a certain body mass index (BMI) to qualify for surgery. You may qualify for surgery if:
Healthcare professionals use BMI to check your risk for weight-related diseases. BMI is based on a formula that considers your current weight and height. While it’s not a perfect method, it can be a useful health indicator for many people. To find out your BMI, you can use our BMI calculator. Even if you don’t qualify for bariatric surgery, we offer other weight loss options like endoscopic treatments and medically supervised treatments.
We will work with you to help you make lifestyle changes before the surgery. You will have a few consultations with doctors leading up to the surgery. These include:
The operation takes about 60 minutes to perform and the hospital stay is 1 day. Patients usually return to work in 2 to 4 weeks. After the surgery, you will also need to take daily vitamin supplements. After surgery, you move through a staged meal plan which consists of:
Yes, we offer ongoing support to help you keep the weight off. Our comprehensive team—which includes surgeons, dietitians, psychologists, and physician assistants—helps support you to ensure you remain successful long after your surgery has been completed.
We offer:
We currently offer two types of information sessions—a 13 minute online session, which can be taken on-demand, or a live session conducted virtually with a member of our surgical team. These sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. During these sessions, you'll hear about the details and benefits of each weight loss surgery and learn more about the program. For help finding a session, you can visit this page or contact us at 617-525-3597.
After you have viewed our info session online or attended a virtual information session, please call us at 617-525-3597 to schedule an initial evaluation to discuss treatment options.
Brigham and Women's offers experience, excellence, and patient-focused care. If you are interested in referring a patient, you can call 617-525-3597 for additional information or to register a patient for a free information session.
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