There are various types of bariatric surgeries that serve to reduce the body’s capacity to hold food, so the patient is not compelled to eat enough food, and therefore lose weight. The Lap Band procedure does this by constricting the entrance to the stomach so that patients must eat slower, making them eat less before the feeling of being full sets in. The sleeve gastrectomy, on the other hand, works by removing about 80 percent of the stomach, creating a much smaller stomach that gets full with less food. When weighing the Lap Band vs. gastric sleeve procedures, it’s also important to consider the fact that the sleeve gastrectomy procedure also has hormonal benefits that help curb a patient’s overall desire for food.

Part of the reason that we get hunger cravings is because of a hormone called ghrelin that is released by the stomach when it is empty. When 80% of the stomach is removed, it also takes out a lot of the places that release ghrelin. That means that people who have the gastric sleeve procedure have less of the hunger causing hormone. Because of this initial benefit, many patients whose Lap Bands are not helping them lose as much weight as they would have hoped opt for band to sleeve revision surgery.

Dr. Michael Feiz is unmatched both in his ability to perform this revision procedure, and in the post-operative support that his office provides patients to ensure that they are on the right track to weight loss success. If you need a sleeve gastrectomy after Lap Band surgery left you disappointed, there is no better place to go for treatment than Dr. Feiz and Associates.