Updated Review of Sleeve Gastrectomy

There is a bariatric explosion worldwide to deal with the rising prevalence of morbid obesity. In 1988, Hess and Hess first added the sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and the duodenal switch (DS) as a modification to the biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) to improve clinical outcomes. But the increased morbidity and mortality observed in super-super-obese patients (BMI > 60 kg/m ) who underwent BPD with DS (BPD-DS) made Gagner and co-workers propose SG as a bridge to gastric bypass or BPD-DS to reduce complications and mortality. The excellent short-term weight-loss outcomes after SG have increased the enthusiasm among surgeons to use it as a definitive treatment for morbidly obese and super-obese patients (BMI > 50 kg/m ). Neurohormonal and gastric emptying changes may account for its superiority over other restrictive procedures. Recent reports on mid-term weight-loss outcomes make this procedure a viable option for bariatric surgeons; nonetheless, long-term studies are still required.