Gastric sleeve surgery offers patients many different benefits both for the short-term and long-term. Maintaining these results over a longer period of time, such as 10 years, may be a challenge for many patients. However, taking the appropriate steps and keeping in touch with your surgeon can make all the difference.
Outlined below is an overview of what you might be able to expect following a gastric sleeve procedure, as well as statistics.
Quality of Life 10 Years After Gastric Sleeve
Patients who have had gastric sleeve surgery do experience some long-term benefits to their quality of life. What a patient experiences and to what level can vary. However, some quality of life benefits might include:
- Remission of weight-related illnesses
- Increased self-confidence
- Increased mobility
- Increased social life
- Decrease in depression
How Do You Lose Weight with Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
Gastric sleeve surgery is also known as vertical sleeve gastrectomy, which is considered a bariatric type of surgery. Many patients utilize gastric sleeve surgery as a method of helping in weight loss, as this type of surgery helps patients with stubborn areas of weight. There are a few different ways that gastric sleeve surgery can help an individual lose weight, as well as immediate and long-term benefits.
Related: How Much Weight Will I Lose With Gastric Sleeve Surgery?
Reduces Stomach Capacity
This type of procedure can help an individual lose weight, as the surgery will remove around 70% of a patient’s stomach. The smaller stomach that is formed will be more or less shaped like a sleeve.
This new stomach can then hold much less food, which would total around 6 ounces. This means that an individual would feel fuller sooner, at an appropriate time, after they have consumed a meal versus when they had a much larger stomach.
Delays Gastric Emptying
With this type of procedure, the sutured stomach is much smaller in size than it was previously. A smaller stomach will take longer to process food that has been consumed. This means that individuals may feel fuller and more satisfied for longer.
Alters Hunger-Related Hormones
As part of the gastric sleeve surgery procedure, a portion of a patient’s stomach is removed. This allows the altering of hunger-related hormones, which can allow a person to have more control over their appetite.
While the most significant weight loss occurs immediately following gastric sleeve surgery, there are also other types of benefits that a patient could experience. When a patient combines a healthy diet with moderate levels of experience, they can help to facilitate quality long-term results.
Benefits of gastric sleeve surgery could include:
- Reduced weight
- Reduced risk of stroke
- Remission of disease, including hypertension and sleep apnea
- A lower BMI
Weight Loss Retention
While gastric sleeve surgery can help many patients lose weight, the most significant amount of weight loss occurs right after the surgery. This could be within 3 to 6 months after the procedure is completed. However, the patient will need to still adjust their diet and exercise routine.
The patient may need to make significant lifestyle changes in order to maintain their weight loss. It is typical that by the end of the first year following their surgery, a patient’s weight loss will begin to slow down. Maintaining this weight loss could be challenging, especially for the next five to ten years.
Weight Fluctuations and Regain Following Gastric Sleeve
In the years following gastric sleeve surgery, many patients may gain weight back. In some instances, this could be significant. A majority of this weight gain is attributed to a patient’s failure to comply with lifestyle changes, resulting in a poor diet and low levels of exercise. However, there can be other factors that could contribute to weight gain following gastric sleeve surgery.
Tips for Maintaining Weight Loss for 10+ Years Following Gastric Sleeve
While not all weight gain in the years following gastric sleeve surgery is controllable by a patient, there are some steps a patient can take to increase their results long-term. Leading up to and following their procedure, a patient’s surgeon will walk them through the lifestyle changes that may be necessary for them and their own unique needs.
Lifestyle Changes
Many patients will need to make permanent lifestyle changes in order to maintain their weight loss. Adhering to these changes is important for overall success. This might include eating a healthier diet, as well as taking up more exercise.
Potential Long-Term Complications 10 Years After Gastric Sleeve Surgery
While there are many positive benefits of gastric sleeve surgery, there are also some potential complications that could arise.
Long-term complications may include:
- Leakage
- Dumping Syndrome
- Bowel obstruction
- Acid reflux
- Hernias
- Low blood sugar
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Gallstones
Maintaining The Positives Following 10+ Years After Gastric Sleeve Surgery
Maintaining the positive results from gastric sleeve surgery takes lifelong dedication. While this could sound overwhelming, speaking with the surgeon that completed your surgery will help you understand what will be needed of you for the long-term.
This could include finding your own unique healthy balance, as well as making necessary changes to your diet or taking up an exercise program. Many patients will need to include the stabilization diet, which is the consumption of foods in a certain order. The stabilization diet helps to ensure that a patient is getting the nutrients they need without promoting weight gain.
Gastric Sleeve Surgery 10 Years Later Statistics and Results
A 2010 study from Stanford University showed that the average mortality rate for gastric sleeve surgery is .08% or less than 1 person per 1,000 procedures.
Cleveland Clinic Florida
A study conducted by Cleveland Clinic Florida in 2011 showed that gastric sleeve surgery had overall lower complication rates and reoperation rates when compared to gastric band and gastric bypass. The study was conducted by utilizing the data from 2,400 patients that underwent gastric sleeve surgery.
American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
In a study published by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, it was concluded that up to 100% of patients that undergo gastric sleeve surgery could struggle with vitamin D deficiency. It was also concluded that 1 out of 5 patients will develop a vitamin B12 deficiency after gastric sleeve surgery.
A Multicenter Study Published in Karger
In a study published in Karger, titled Quality of Life 10 Years after Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Multicenter Study, five questionnaires were distributed to 103 patients that underwent gastric sleeve surgery between the years of 2003 and 2006. The questionnaires were given to the patients in January 2016.
The five questionnaires were Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System, the Reflux Symptom Index, the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index, the Bariatric Quality of Life Index, and the Short Form 36. The study reported that patients that did not experience reflux following the procedure had a higher quality of life scores in all eight categories.
The Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
In a study that focused on 39 clinics with 11,420 patients that underwent a bariatric procedure between the years of 2008 and 2012, there were very large differences in quality of life scores. These differences were attributed to patient-related factors and performances of hospitals.
Five-Year Outcomes After Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy for Severe Obesity:
In a study that focused on gastric sleeve surgery patients postoperatively at 5 years, the results for quality of life were separated into two categories. These categories were physical and mental components. Scores in both of these categories improved for all patients when they were compared with the patients’ preoperative scores.
Retrospective Study Evaluated Long-term Weight Loss
In a study conducted on a total of 83 patients, it was found that food tolerance is lower for patients following gastric sleeve surgery than it is for non-obese patients that did not have a surgery. 95.2% of patients described their food tolerance as acceptable to excellent.
American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc
In a study that was conducted on 77 patients, quality of life scores were found to be lower in categories that were related to general health and physical function when they were associated with patients that had experienced weight gain following the surgery. Patients that were experiencing reflux had generally lower scores in all categories.
Communication with The Bariatric Surgeon
Even though a patient’s gastric sleeve surgery may be completed, the patient will still want to keep in touch with their surgeon and the team. The bariatric surgeon has your overall goals in mind and wants to help assist on your weight loss journey.
This means that they will give you helpful advice or may be able to help you with a surgical or nonsurgical option. If a patient notices weight regain, getting in touch with the surgeon can help them figure out what is going on.
