Types of Bariatric Surgery at UPMC Altoona

Gastric sleeve surgery — or gastric sleeve resection — is a newer type of weight loss surgery. It's less invasive, where your surgeon makes a few small cuts rather than one large one.

During gastric sleeve surgery, your surgeon:

• Removes about 85 percent of the stomach so that it takes the shape of a tube or sleeve.
• Makes a thin, narrow sleeve — about the size of a banana — out of the smaller stomach that's left.

The sleeve helps you lose weight because it limits the amount of food you can eat so you feel full sooner.

After gastric sleeve surgery, most people lose an average of 55 percent of their excess weight and have improved health.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is the most common form of weight loss surgery in the United States.

With the laparoscopic approach, your surgeon:

• Makes six small cuts.
• Uses long instruments and a camera to make a small stomach pouch about the size of an egg.
• Bypasses 3 to 4 feet of the small intestine.

The smaller stomach restricts the amount of food you can eat; the bypass limits the calories your body can absorb.

The pros of this surgery include:

• Less post-op pain.
• Faster healing.
• Shorter hospital stay.
• Less chance of a hernia.

Open gastric bypass surgery involves making a cut in the upper stomach. This gives your surgeon direct access to the stomach and intestines.

During open gastric bypass, your surgeon:

• Divides the stomach into two parts.
• Makes a tiny gastric pouch — about the size of an egg — from the top part.
• Connects the new, small stomach pouch straight to the small intestine.

Gastric bypass helps you lose weight because it:

• Restricts the amount of food you can eat and digest.
• Lessens the number of calories you can absorb.
• Changes certain hormones to help you feel full with less food.