Gastric sleeve surgery is a bariatric procedure that removes a large portion of your stomach, leaving behind a narrow “sleeve.” Reducing your stomach helps restrict calories and reduce hunger signals for improved weight loss.
As safe and effective as the surgery is, complications may arise, or you may be unhappy with the results. Let’s discuss what a gastric sleeve is, why you shouldn’t have gastric sleeve surgery twice, and what your options are at Obesity Control Center.
What is gastric sleeve surgery?
Weight loss surgery with a gastric sleeve reduces the size of your stomach by removing up to 80% of your stomach. Gastric sleeve surgery creates a tubular “sleeve,” approximately the size and shape of a banana.
Reducing the size of your stomach restricts the amount of food you can eat in one sitting, causing you to feel full more quickly. It also reduces the number of hunger hormones your stomach produces, decreasing your appetite and cravings while preventing the impulses that cause people to regain weight.
However, it is essential to note that gastric sleeve surgery is not reversible; once the stomach has been removed, we cannot replace it.
Can you have gastric sleeve surgery twice?
A failed gastric sleeve procedure is both disappointing and a significant health issue. Weight loss procedures can fail for many different reasons, including:
- Older surgical techniques: Bariatric surgery failure may be due to the surgical process. The method may be outdated, or other more effective and safer procedures have since been developed.
- Poorly executed surgery: The revision may address a technical error, meaning that another surgeon may not have optimally performed the surgery.
- Stomach pouch stretching: Stomach stretching can enlarge the gastric pouch, causing loss of restriction.
It is often a combination of several factors which results in a failed surgery.
If my gastric sleeve has failed, can I get a gastric sleeve twice? Technically, no, because a second gastric sleeve would remove another large percentage of the stomach. The second gastric sleeve surgery is called a gastric sleeve revision.
What is gastric sleeve revision?
While it isn’t possible to perform gastric sleeve twice, it can be repaired or corrected.
At OCC, we understand that revising a failing surgery must be approached on a customized basis. There are two different mechanisms to achieve weight loss:
- Malabsorption: Surgeons generate malabsorption by rerouting the intestine so food does not pass through the first section of the gut, leading to less absorption of calories. Rerouting also modifies intestinal hormones to improve weight loss outcomes. This procedure is associated with a higher surgical complication risk. Results with this technique are limited and less predictable because malabsorption increases, as do the dangers of malnourishment and chronic diarrhea.
- Restriction: Surgeons increase restriction by creating folds around the stoma (gastric pouch outlet), substantially reducing its diameter and the stomach pouch's size. Our surgeons utilize endoscopic methods that require no incision, including the StomaPhyx and Rose procedures. Laparoscopic procedures to increase restriction can be more effective, such as the adjustable gastric band system (AGB) on top of the gastric pouch. It can be regulated or adjusted to achieve necessary restrictions for reducing food volume intake and increasing weight loss.
How the IGS Improved Gastric Sleeve® from OCC is different
The IGS Improved Gastric Sleeve® is a groundbreaking weight loss surgery technique exclusive to OCC. Our Dr. Ortiz innovated gastric sleeve surgery after years of experience and research in weight loss revision surgeries.
Performed by our team of world-class bariatric surgeons in our Tijuana, Mexico, weight-loss hospital, IGS creates a vertical sleeve within the stomach with surgical stapling. This achieves the following results:
- Fewer post-op complications (see study)
- Fewer organs are affected during surgery
- More effective long-term weight loss
- Faster weight loss
- Less expensive than other bariatric surgery options
To compare the IGS Improved Gastric Sleeve® to the traditional gastric sleeve:
- Higher safety standard: We developed the Double-Buttress Technique, which creates a leak-proof seal.
- Fewer side effects: OCC has perfected micro-calibration, a technique that creates a sleeve that is more uniform and less prone to undesirable symptoms while enhancing weight loss.
- Reduced complications: The IGS technique is based on anatomical and physiological studies and created the “Fundic Anchoring Technique” that has effectively reduced the risk of herniation and severe chronic acid reflux after surgery by 64%. (See study)
- Perfect for revision surgery: One of the most significant benefits of the IGS Improved Gastric Sleeve® is that it is ideal for those who need a revision or tightening surgery. It corrects “sloppy sleeve” issues and is a more permanent alternative to the Lap-Band procedure.
The IGS Improved Gastric Sleeve® procedure provides excellent results and metabolic disease improvements, including remission of Type-2 diabetes in 84% of patients. It also decreases the risks of stretching, leaks, and failures.
Obesity Control Center is here to help revise failed gastric sleeve surgery
As medical tourism increases, the need for a safe, credible, and accommodating medical center has also elevated; OCC proudly accepts the challenge. Our three Master Bariatric Surgeons care for every patient, so you’re always in the hands of a world-renowned and highly trained surgeon.
With 25 years of specializing in weight loss surgery, we are pioneers in bariatric surgical procedures, registering several techniques and being some of the first to perform the IGS Improved Gastric Sleeve®.
We have been fully accredited by Joint Commission International for two 3-year periods, signifying that we met the highest patient safety and quality standards. Additionally, OCC is fully certified as an SRC Center of Excellence in Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery.
