The future of sleeve gastrectomy

Abstract

The International Diabetes Federation has recently published a position statement on bariatric surgery. Facing a global diabetes crisis, it has added various types of surgery on the gastrointestinal tract as powerful options among the armamentarium to normalise glycaemia, avoid regular medications and decrease costs in severely obese patients. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has been shown to be effective for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, with extremely low mortality and acceptable morbidity. It decreases caloric consumption, modifies gut hormones, changes gastric emptying, and lowers glycaemia. In the long term, if recurrences in weight or diabetes occur, it can be converted to a duodenal switch, potentially reaching 90% of patients with partial or complete remission.