I know that many years ago, there was talk about getting your stomach stapled. Is the sleeve the same thing? Or is getting your stomach stapled like having a tummy tuck?

They are absolutely NOT the same procedure. Here is the stomach stapling:

Restrictive Surgery for Weight Loss

Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy:

SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY / Obesity Solutions Atlanta

You really won't find many Hospitals or Surgeons that still perform the "stomach stapling".

I was thinking that that was an outdated procedure, but just thought I'd ask. (I guess I could have googled it)

The term "vertical gastroplasty" was where I was misinformed by my insurance carrier. The agent I spoke with misinterpreted it to be the same as "vertical gastrectomy." So for months I was working toward getting my sleeve surgery, only to learn at the last minute that there was an error, and the insurance carrier will not pay for the sleeve.

My surgeon says nobody does the gastroplasty anymore, because it doesn't work. Sort of figures that my lame insurance would pay for that one, but not for the sleeve, which is what I want. :w00t:

Dave

If you look up just gastrectomies, you'll find that surgery has been performed for decades upon decades for people with stomach cancer and major ulcerative conditions.

It's definitely not the same as the old stomach stapling. It's not making a pouch out of stomach tissue, it's literally stapling off, and excising the stomach to remove the large, stretchy portion called the fundus.

Also, VSG has been performed for over 10-15 years as the first stage to the Duodenal Switch surgery. It became popular as a stand alone WLS when surgeons were seeing satisfactory weight loss and easier maintenance of loss with VSG before finishing the 2nd stage malabsorptive portion of the DS.

Good to know - I was asked this same question by a friend a few days ago and couldn't give him an answer.