A5258 - Safety and Effectiveness of Sleeve Gastrectomy in a Community Based Practice

Abstract

Sleeve Gastrectomy has emerged as the procedure of choice for the majority of morbidly obese patients. Sleeve Gastrectomy has been shown to be almost as effective as the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass in regards to weight loss, while avoiding the complications of malabsorption, internal hernias, and marginal ulcers. Leak rates, the most dreaded complication following Sleeve Gastrectomy, have been reported to be 1-2% in the surgical literature. We report the safety and effectiveness of this surgery in a private practice setting with a comprehensive multi-disciplinary team providing pre- and post-op care of the patients performing surgery at 2 affiliated community hospitals. While many previous papers and presentations have focused on the actual surgical procedure or techniques, this paper stresses the importance of the pre-op and post-op education and care given to the patients to minimize risks of complications.