You’re opting for bariatric surgery to gain some control over your weight and your health. With this decision made, the next one involves figuring out which weight loss surgery is best for your health and your goals.
To help with this early decision-making process, our team of weight loss specialists here at Advanced Surgeons presents a side-by-side comparison to the two most popular choices — gastric bypass and gastric sleeve.
Bariatric surgery by the numbers
We mentioned that gastric bypass and gastric sleeve, which is also called a sleeve gastrectomy, are the two most popular weight loss surgeries.
To put some numbers to this, there were slightly more than 150,000 gastric sleeve procedures performed in the United States in 2019 and a little more than 45,000 gastric bypasses. (Please note that we’re using numbers from 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic skewed numbers between 2020 and 2022.)
To give you an idea about trends, the numbers from 2011 were just over 28,000 for the gastric sleeve and nearly 59,000 for the gastric bypass. As you can see, the number of gastric sleeve procedures has risen considerably, while the number of gastric surgeries dipped.
The gastric sleeve
When it comes to bariatric surgery, the gastric sleeve is perhaps the most straightforward. With this weight loss surgery, we remove about 80% of your stomach, creating a much smaller stomach that’s more of a sleeve than a large pouch.
The gastric bypass
A gastric bypass surgery, which is also called a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, is more complex than a sleeve gastrectomy. During a gastric bypass, we separate a piece of your stomach and create a small pouch. We then attach this new stomach farther down your small intestine, bypassing the top segment.
Comparing the gastric bypass and the gastric sleeve
When we perform a gastric sleeve, our goal is to limit the capacity of your stomach so you eat less. Not only do we accomplish this, we also remove the portion of your stomach that produces ghrelin, which is a hormone that makes you feel hungry. So, with a gastric sleeve, you feel full much sooner, and you aren’t as hungry.
With a gastric bypass, we accomplish the same thing as a sleeve procedure, but we go a few steps further. First, the size of your stomach is smaller than it is with a sleeve — about a 1-ounce capacity versus a 2- to 5-ounce capacity with the sleeve.
As important, we take some of your food absorption out of the equation. By bypassing a certain segment of your small intestine, you absorb fewer calories.
In both procedures, the changes we make to your digestive system are irreversible. As well, your eating instructions after both of the surgeries are similar — namely small, easily digestible meals.
To figure out which weight loss surgery is best for your health and your goals, your first step is to come see us for an evaluation. To get started, please contact one of our offices in Valhalla, Carmel, or Poughkeepsie, New York, today to schedule a consultation.
