[2] The procedure is irreversible,[4] though in some uncommon cases, patients can regain the lost weight, via resumption of poor dietary habits, or dilation of the stomach over time, which can require gastric sleeve revision surgery to either repair the sleeve or convert it to another type of weight loss method that may produce better results, such as a gastric bypass or duodenal switch.

[5] A meta-analysis of 174,772 participants published in The Lancet in 2021 found that bariatric surgery was associated with 59% and 30% reduction in all-cause mortality among obese adults with and without type 2 diabetes, respectively.

[8][9] In many cases, sleeve gastrectomy is as effective as gastric bypass surgery, including improvements in glucose homeostasis before substantial weight loss has occurred.

This weight-loss independent benefit is related to the decrease in gastric volume, changes in gut peptides, and expression of genes involved in glucose absorption.

[10][11] The procedure involves a longitudinal resection of the stomach starting from the antrum at the point 5–6 cm from the pylorus and finishing at the fundus close to the cardia.