Bariatric surgery is usually performed as a last resort on patients who are unable to manage their weight through diet and exercise. It can also be performed in morbidly obese patients as a secondary weight loss procedure so as to help them attain a healthy weight that will allow for a more complex bariatric procedure such as a gastric bypass.

Sleeve gastrectomy is one of the four key types of bariatric surgeries often performed in the US. Before making the decision to undergo a vertical sleeve gastrectomy or any other kind of bariatric surgery, you should take into account the risks and success rate linked to the surgery.

Several studies have been conducted to examine how effective the procedure is.
One study involved collecting data from one bariatric surgeon on all gastric sleeve procedures he had performed between the years 2006 and 2009.

During this time, 185 patients went through the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy procedure. Weight loss of excess weight was 47.2% in the first year, 60.7% in the second year and 66% in the third year. None of the patients suffered from leaks, bleeding that required reoperation, incisional hernia or infection. The average time of surgery was 111 minutes and average hospital stay for all patients was 2.35 days.
This study shows that the procedure is safe and produces desired results for weight loss when all post-op rules are adhered to.

In a study that intended to compare the effectiveness of sleeve gastrectomy in comparison to gastric bypass, produced results as discussed below.
The study involved collection of data from patients who had undergone sleeve gastrectomy and another group of patients who had undergone gastric bypass between March of 2013 and April or 2015. In the study minor and major complications were examined, as well as a parameter for weight loss.

Results of the study showed that from 513 patients, with an average age of 37.5 and BMI of 44.1, 73% of them underwent sleeve gastrectomy while 26.7% of them went through gastric bypass. Major complications among the sleeve gastrectomy patients were 7.1% and 95% of gastric bypass patients. The operating time for sleeve gastrectomy was shorter than in gastric bypass patients. When it comes to weight loss success within a year, the success rate among gastric bypass patients was slightly higher than in sleeve gastrectomy patients.

Short term, both gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients realize successful significant weight loss. More studies on long-term success in managing weight will, however, need to be conducted to determine which procedure is better than the other.

A study conducted in Stanford University involved analyzing data of about 270,000 bariatric surgeries conducted between the years 2007 and 2010. About 16,000 of these were sleeve gastrectomies that had a complication rate of less than 1% compared to 1.25% for gastric bypass.

Statistically, there is little difference in the excess weight loss after two years following vertical sleeve gastrectomy. The most significant weight loss occurs within the first year. Some individuals need to go through a second bariatric surgery to work towards achieving their ideal weight.