The vertical sleeve gastrectomy is a form of weight loss surgery where about two-thirds of the stomach is removed, restricting the amount of food and calories a person can consume. The remaining part of the stomach is resistant to stretching. The part of the stomach removed is largely responsible for producing a hormone called Ghrelin, which is responsible for feelings of hunger. With much of the stomach removed and the hormones responsible for feelings hunger reduced, you feel full much longer after eating and become hungry less frequently. The portion left behind after the surgery is a long vertical sleeve and the intestine is not bypassed like with the gastric bypass procedure.

This is not reversible, but the benefits to many who have undergone this procedure are numerous. Patients typically lose about 80% of their excess weight and comorbidities associated with morbid obesity such as diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea and high cholesterol are commonly resolved with significant weight loss. By comparison, in a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the stomach is divided, not removed, and the pylorus, which is the part of the stomach that connects to the small intestine, is excluded. The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass stomach can be reconnected (reversed) if necessary.