Many patients today are offered the bypass or sleeve as a WLS op and we have

covered the differences between them before (see here). Part of the

consideration for patients is undoubtedly weight loss – will the sleeve offer

comparable results as the bypass? We asked our friends at Ramsay Health

the same question. Here’s what they say ….

 

 

GUEST POST: A short comparison of expected weight loss between both gastric sleeve and gastric bypass.

Patients often want to know exactly how much weight they will lose from weight loss surgery. However, this is individual to each person and will depend on a number of variables including: their current weight, their goal weight, their current health and their commitment to a healthier carefully controlled diet and regularly active lifestyle.

It’s important to remember that weight loss surgery is a tool to help you lose weight, not a magic cure and a great deal of determination and life style changes are required to ensure success in reaching your weight loss goals.

You’ll need to permanently change your eating habits and take part in regular physical activity to maintain your weight loss and make sure you don’t put the weight back on over time.

How is weight loss measured?

Typically, we measure average weight loss after weight loss surgery as a percentage of a person’s excess weight.

On average bariatric surgery can result in a 50 to 70 percent reduction in excess body weight over three years. A person’s body mass index (BMI see how to measure here) also needs to be factored in, as this greatly affects the speed and amount of weight loss. The higher a patient’s initial BMI, the greater the drop of their BMI (especially after three years or more), regardless of procedure. So the bigger you are before surgery, the faster you’ll lose weight.

How much weight loss can be expected with a gastric bypass and gastric sleeve?

With both procedures you will initially experience rapid weight loss followed by excess weight loss of around 50-70 per cent at two years. This will usually be achieved quicker with a bypass than a sleeve.These, however, are just the average figures and there are a range of outcomes.If you’re determined to lose weight and adhere to all the post procedure exercise and dietary advice you can lose all excess weight within two years.

Data looking at three to five years and beyond weight loss surgery show a greater than 50 percent weight loss for both gastric bypass and gastric sleeve surgery.

Commitment and motivation are essential

Some people say that the hardest part of your weight loss journey is losing the first few stones or the first few dress sizes. Once you start to notice results you will be motivated to lose more, eat healthier, find it easier to exercise, enjoy life, and talk about your amazing progress.

Others say it’s harder to keep losing weight after an initial rapid loss, as you’re disheartened once the rapid weight loss ends, o rto maintain your ideal weight.

Whatever your experience, the key message is to persevere, don’t give up and set realistic goals.

Additional things to consider

Long-term weight loss is more dependent on your lifestyle than which procedure you choose.

When choosing a weight loss surgery, you will have other considerations in addition to the amount of weight loss and how quickly the excess weight is expected to be lost. These factors can include:

·Whether you want a restrictive (limits the amount of food intake) or restrictive and malabsorption procedure (limits the amount of food intake and its absorption).

·Advantages and risks of your proposed weightloss procedure.

·Your body mass index.

·Your current eating habits and your determination to succeed by changing your lifestyle.

·The expected improvement in health conditions such as diabetes, sleep apnoea and heart problems.

·Complications which may occur such as dumping syndrome in gastric bypass patients and taking nutritional supplements forever.

·Previous surgery you’ve had.

·Invasiveness of the procedure and whether you’re comfortable in permanently re-routing your digestive system.

·Length of the procedure and its expected recovery times.

·Costs of each procedure. 

It’s important to discuss with your bariatric surgeon your weight loss goals together with your detailed health information.