Sleeve gastrectomy removes approximately 80% of the stomach to create a slim, tube‑like pouch. It limits intake and favourably alters gut hormones governing appetite, satiety and glycaemic control.
Sleeve Gastrectomy
The Procedure (Keyhole Surgery)
• General anaesthesia; 1–3 hours typical duration.
• Laparoscopic (keyhole) access with small ports; stomach stapled, divided and resected stomach removed; staple line tested for leaks and reinforced with sutures.
• The staple line will be reinforced with sutures and a test using dye (methylene blue test) will be done using a small tube to verify that there are no leaks.
• At the end the instruments will be removed, deflating your abdominal cavity and the cuts will be closed with absorbable stitches.
How It Works
First off, the new stomach pouch is much smaller than the usual one, which means you can eat less food and fewer calories.
But what really makes a difference is how it changes the hormones in your gut (like GLP-1, PYY, Ghrelin and others). These hormones affect things like how hungry you feel, when you feel full, how your blood sugar is regulated and how your body burns energy.
Expected Outcomes
We anticipate a total weight loss of 25-30% within the first two years. For example, a patient weighing 150 kg is expected to be approximately 105 kg (a loss of 45 kg or 7 stone) in two years.
Risks and Complications
- Mortality: ≈0.05–0.09%.
• Early (<30 days) complications: ≈3.0–4.8%.
• General complications: pain, bleeding, infection, unsightly scarring, and blood clots. - Keyhole complications:
– Surgical emphysema: A crackling sensation in your skin caused by trapped gas. It’s usually not serious.
– Incisional hernia: A bulge near a cut caused by deep muscle layers failing to heal. It’s a risk of 1 in 100.
– Damage to other structures: Less than 3 in 1000 risk, especially if you’ve had previous operations. Your surgeon will discuss this with you.
– Conversion to open surgery: A risk of 1 in 100.
- Sleeve-specific:
– Staple line bleeding: A risk of 1 in 100.
– Staple line leak: A risk of 2 in 100, a serious complication that often requires long-term nutrition support and possibly another operation.
– Sleeve narrowing: A risk of less than 1 in 100.
– Acid reflux: A risk of 5 to 12 in 100.
– Suboptimal weight loss: A risk of 1 in 20.
- Nutritional issues: iron, vitamin D, folate, B1 and B12 deficiencies—prevented with routine supplementation and monitoring.
Why Mr. Spyros Panagiotopoulos?
An experienced minimally invasive surgeon, Mr. Panagiotopoulos performs sleeve gastrectomy with a focus on safety, precision technique and structured follow‑up to secure lasting outcomes.