Gastric Sleeve
1 November 2024 –
Ernesto Escobar, MD
The Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (Gastric Sleeve) is a procedure that involves removing approximately 70% to 80% of the stomach along its longitudinal axis, leaving a remaining stomach shaped like a tube or “banana.” This allows the patient to feel full sooner, as it limits the intake of large amounts of food.
The weight loss effect of the gastric sleeve is not only due to limiting food intake but also to changes in a key hormonal component, the hormone Ghrelin.
Ghrelin is synthesized in the upper, rounded part of the stomach known as the “gastric fundus” when the stomach is empty and is the hormone responsible for triggering hunger signals in the brain. However, its effects do not end there; besides inducing hunger, this hormone has negative effects on the body, such as the destruction of pancreatic cells that produce insulin, thereby predisposing patients to Type 2 Diabetes.
Today, the gastric sleeve is also an approved procedure for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes associated with obesity.