Sleeve Gastrectomy

How Does the Sleeve Compare with Gastric Bypass?

The most important difference lies in the fact that, compared with Gastric Bypass, Sleeve Gastrectomy is a relatively new procedure and there are important questions about the long-term viability of the weight loss associated with it. More research is required before Sleeve Gastrectomy can be considered as effective and safe in the long term as standard Gastric Bypass. Nevertheless, it does look promising and is likely to be more widely used in the future.

Sleeve Gastrectomy	Gastric bypass
Relatively new procedure, few long-term results	Well established, “gold-standard” with decades of experience
Purely restrictive procedure, though also has important hormonal effects which reduce appetite	Restrictive and malabsorptive procedure
Wide variation in weight loss (50-80% excess weight)	Generally more predictable and consistent loss of around 70% excess weight
Quicker procedure (45-60 mins), no cutting of bowel	Usually 1½ - 2 hours and involves dividing stomach and bowel
Dumping syndrome unusual	Dumping syndrome common
Less risk of nutritional complications because no malabsorption	Nutritional deficiencies common without lifelong vitamin and mineral supplementation
Mortality rate 0.1-0.5%	Mortality rate around 0.1-0.5%
Early complication rate 3-7%	Early complication rate 3-10%
Hospital stay usually 1-2 nights	Hospital stay 2 nights