Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy safer than bariatric and metabolic surgery

The rate of a gastrointestinal leak, considered a serious complication, was three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) for sleeve gastrectomy versus four-tenths of one percent (0.4%) for gastric bypass patients. The percentage of procedures requiring reoperations due to complications was 15.3 percent for the gastric band, 7.7 percent for gastric bypass and 1.5 percent for sleeve gastrectomy. On average, patients had a BMI between 44 and 48, were 46 years of age and had at least two obesity-related conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

A third study on sleeve gastrectomy conducted by the Naval Medical Center in San Diego found while gastric bypass patients lost more of their excess weight after the first year, 72.3 percent versus 63.7 percent, there were no statistically significant differences in excess weight loss after two and five years. This study examined 486 patients, half had gastric bypass and half had sleeve gastrectomy.

"Sleeve gastrectomy has proven itself to be a safe and effective option in patients with morbid obesity and this procedure should be considered a primary procedure for weight loss and obesity-related disease improvement and resolution," said Robin Blackstone, MD, President ASMBS.

Source: Stanford University