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This topic is not complex at all, so there is not much to highlight other than letting you know that the time that a gastric sleeve surgery lasts may not have any relevance or be very important to give you an idea of ​​the experience of the bariatric group you are contemplating having this procedure done with. I'll explain why below.

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“The more the merrier” does not apply in this case

Like almost everything in life, extremes are bad, and by that I mean if the bariatric group that offers you gastric sleeve surgery tells you that it takes them 20 minutes to perform this procedure, or is doing things to a certain degree of carelessness or the technique they are using is not ideal.

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Likewise, if they tell you that the approximate surgery time is two, three or more hours, this is also a red flag, since these times reflect that they do not have a refined technique or that the team with which the main surgeon operates is not that of every day and that the assistants are changing constantly or that the technique is simply not ideal for the procedure to flow as it should.

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The time that gastric sleeve surgery lasts is variable

In the case of Obesity Free, the time it takes us to operate a gastric sleeve is not an absolute standard since, both for us and for any other bariatric group, certain antecedents must be taken into consideration that could affect this operative time.

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History such as surgery of the upper abdominal region, surgery of the esophageal hiatus, surgery of the spleen, and surgery of the liver or gallbladder are procedures that to a greater or lesser degree can cause the formation of adhesions or scars within the abdominal cavity, especially if they are procedures that were performed with the conventional or open technique.

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When these aforementioned procedures are performed with the laparoscopic technique, it is less likely that there will be adhesions, however, there is no way to predict the presence or absence of said adhesions until the surgery is performed.

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Many women ask us (and many remain in doubt for a long time, thinking that it is a contraindication) about uterus, ovarian or c-section surgery. No surgery that is of the lower abdomen interferes with the gastric sleeve procedure, when it is a gastric bypass, said the previous history of surgeries in the middle and lower abdomen they do take on more importance since a large part of the intestine has to be manipulated to perform the bypass,  the presence of adhesions in these regions may imply a greater technical challenge.

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The time it takes to operate on a patient with such a history is very variable and will depend almost directly on the degree of adhesions present and the skill of your surgeon, but in order not to leave the answer in the air, we consider that a prudent time for this type of cases is between 1 hour and a half or a maximum of 2 hours of operative time for a gastric sleeve.

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Now, speaking of the case of a "virgin" abdomen, that is, with no history of abdominal surgeries, the time it takes for us at Obesity Free to operate a gastric sleeve is between 40 and 60 minutes.

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Surgical complications

And speaking of an acceptable surgical time like that of our practice, it is also important to highlight that this considerably reduces the risk of the so feared by some patients of the development of complications due to the formation of clots in the legs, specifically what is medically called deep vein thrombosis, in the legs or pulmonary thromboembolism (a blood clot that travels from legs to the lungs).

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These are serious complications that can lead to even greater problems, however, thinking that a person is not moving for a period of 40 to 60 minutes is completely acceptable, human beings during sleep can last longer without moving and nothing happens at all; On the other hand, if the surgical time is 3 or 4 hours, this increases the risk of these complications.

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Although the history of each patient must also be taken into consideration since it is not the same to operate on a 20-year-old woman with moderate obesity and no medical issues as it is on a 40-year-old woman with morbid obesity, intake of oral contraceptives, and venous insufficiency of the legs, that is why it is important to individualize each case and act according to the needs of each patient.

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Apart from the subject of clot formation, the operative time for performing a gastric sleeve does not really play a crucial role in its results, as we said before, it will serve more than anything to get an idea of ​​the experience, capacity, and skill of the bariatric group with which you are thinking of having the surgery.

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If you have any specific questions about the surgery, the protocol that we carry out for each patient, or any other, do not hesitate to contact us.