As surgeons’ expertise continues to improve, gastric sleeve surgery is quickly becoming the most chosen and successful weight loss surgery performed today. Over 90% of all weight-loss surgeries in Mexico are sleeve gastrectomy.
You will feel full faster and be less hungry as 80% to 85% of the stomach is removed during gastric sleeve surgery. One of the most misunderstood topics relating to gastric sleeve is stomach size after surgery. The size of the stomach after gastric sleeve surgery is significantly reduced although it can vary from patient to patient.
What is my stomach size after gastric sleeve?
A normal adult stomach size is roughly 2.5 ounces while empty. The normal stomach capacity can expand to hold nearly 1 quart of food (or 32 fluid ounces). Gastric sleeve surgery reduces the stomach size by 80-85%. Before the gastric sleeve procedure, your stomach could stretch to fit 6 cups of water. After gastric sleeve surgery, your stomach can only hold 1 cup of water.
The stomach size for gastric bypass patients is roughly 1 ounce, while the gastric sleeve patients can expect their stomach size at 2 to 3 ounces.1
But what factors impact stomach capacity? We will reveal the answer to this here in this article.
Can my stomach stretch after gastric sleeve?
Weight gain, plateaus, and stalls can become a problem that nearly all gastric sleeve patients face at one point or another. This is why it’s so important to make healthy lifestyle choices and maintain them for the rest of your life.
The stomach won’t stretch without a legitimate reason. If patients eat to a point of being completely full multiple times a day, the stomach will dilate slightly and portion sizes will slowly increase.1
If you notice portion sizes increasing beyond what they should, you should speak with your primary care physician or nutritionist/dietician to get back on track.
Normal stomach size vs morbidly obese stomach size
- The average stomach size is 31 ounces (.94 liters)2
- According to studies, the stomach size between morbidly obese and regular stomachs have no significant differences (based on stomach weight and volume).3
How much of the stomach is removed during sleeve surgery?
Roughly 10-15% of the stomach is remained, meaning it can hold only on average 2 to 3 ounces of volume. This implies that it takes the smallest amounts of food to fill you up while eating less often. The stomach does stretch after gastric sleeve surgery, but usually slightly varies depending on portions.
What impacts stomach size?
The stomach capacity is important to determine the amount of food you can eat at any given time. This is critical to understand portion control and the importance of every single calorie you eat to the most nutrient-rich foods.
With the same surgeon using the same bougie size on different patients, the end result always slightly differs because of the patient’s original stomach size. If the surgeon makes a technical error to incorrectly calibrate the stomach with a bougie, the patient may not lose enough weight after sleeve surgery.
There are 3 main factors that determine the stomach size immediately after gastric sleeve surgery;
- Stomach Size Before Surgery
- Bougie Size (Calibration Tube)
- Surgeon Cut Line (Loose or Tight)
Sleeve Gastrectomy Bougie
What’s Your Bougie Size?
The bougie (pronounced boo-jee) is a guide for the surgeon to divide the stomach. Bougie size influences the capacity of the stomach and comes in different diameters ranging from 32FR to 50FR. FR, called French, is the unit of measurement equal to 1/3 mm, for example, a 40FR bougie measures about 13.32mm or 1/2 inch.
The bougie does not always create the same stomach size as it depends on how close the stapler gets to the bougie and whether the surgeon sutures the staple line (inverted sleeve).
The bougie size of 50+ is used to calibrate the pouch in Mini Gastric Sleeve procedure.
There is no standard for an ideal bougie size and it varies from surgeon to surgeon and depends on the amount of weight loss. A smaller bougie results in a smaller sleeve and a greater restriction and a greater risk of leak and stricture rate. On the contrary, a larger bougie size results in a larger sleeve, safer operation, and not enough weight loss.4
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