I was diagnosed with moderate gastroparesis. Can I be a good candidate for a Gastric Sleeve surgery ?

Question

I just got the 4 hour gastric emtying test done. I was jusr diagnosed and as a result my gsurgeon just informed me thst I cannot get the sleeve surgery done. I am sad because . I suffer from extreme joint pain, diabetes,hypothyrodism, high blood pressure, high cholesterol , I weight 207 and iam 5' tall and I needed this tool to help my self. . I need to get more information ,/ or point of view in regards to this . Thanks.

Steven Fowler, MD, FACS · Answer

Traditionally, the Gastric Bypass is the correct choice for patients with a diagnosis of gastroparesis. There is good data showing that it works well to resolve your symptoms while providing excellent improvement in your weight condition. Your Bariatric Surgeon is looking out for your best interest, and can only be commended for a safe recommendation.However, with the growing popularity of the Sleeve Gastrectomy, there is no surprise that this operation is being performed on patients with many different medical conditions, such as gastroparesis. Surgeons who have performed a Sleeve on a patient with gastroparesis have reported positive results. These reports are few and preliminary.If you do go forward with a Sleeve, it would be reasonable to have the understanding that your choice is fairly uncommon with risk of persistent symptoms of gastroparesis.

Rachel Moore, MD · Answer

Gastroparesis causes the stomach to empty poorly.  When someone needs to loose weight and loss has gastroparesis, the tried-and-true approach is laporascopic roux-en-y bypass.  There are a couple of surgeons doing sleeves for gastroparesis as part of a research study but this new and long term results are not available.

I was diagnosed with moderate gastroparesis. Can I be a good candidate for a Gastric Sleeve surgery ?

Answers (2)