Vertical Banded Gastroplasty

Vertical banded gastroplasty (VGB) also known as stomach stapling is a surgical procedure meant to limit and reduce food intake and not to interfere with normal digestive process. That is a positive side of this procedure because complete absorption of nutrients in the food is uninterrupted.

This restrictive weight loss surgery can be done in two ways: open where under general anesthetic surgeon makes an incision several inches long in the patient’s upper abdomen, and other, performed through laparoscopic, through very small incisions. Anyway, upper stomach is stapled vertically to create a small pouch where the rest of the stomach is separated by a band whose purpose is to make emptying of food from the pouch slower what results with patient feeling full for longer.

Candidates for vertical banded gastroplasty are patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher but after the procedure, it usually takes around 18 to 24 months to lose 50% of patient’s excess body weight.

Many short term and long-term risks are present such as regaining weight, ongoing vomiting and heartburn as well as psychological problems.

Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

The Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy procedure (also known as Sleeve Gastrectomy, Vertical Gastrectomy, Gastric Reduction) is a purely restrictive operation. In this procedure, the surgeon removes a large portion of patient’s stomach, about 85% of it and remaining part is put together with staples. The new shape of the stomach is banana like and measures from 1-5 ounces (30-150cc). The idea is to limit the food that patient will be able to intake and therefore to lose weight. A good thing is that all the nerves to the stomach and the outlet valve (pylorus) remain undamaged so all the functions of the stomach stay in use.

This procedure is also performed through laparoscopic and certainly is not reversible. The candidates for it would be patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more and that is someone with at least 100 pounds over their recommended weight. Also, someone with a BMI of 35 or more with a serious medical condition as sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes or heart disease that might get better with weight loss is also a good candidate for weight loss.