Since vertical sleeve gastrectomy is usually performed laparoscopically, the length of time required in the hospital reduced compared to open surgeries. Patients that undergo vertical sleeve gastrectomy stay in the hospital between two to seven...

days on average. The length of time that you stay in the hospital will depend largely on whether there were any complications during the surgery, if you have any co-existing medical conditions that would complicate recovery and how quickly your body recovers in the time immediately following the operation. This recovery time is used to monitor wound healing but also to ensure that a restricted diet is followed in the few critical days after surgery. Remember that nearly nine-tenths of the stomach is permanently removed in a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, so ingestion of food needs to be restricted. During this time patients should expect to consume a liquid only diet, such as broth, for the first two weeks following the procedure. After that, the diet will be advanced to soft, pureed foods for a time before a trial of solid foods can be explored. The size of these meals is considerably less than what the patient had consumed prior to the procedure. It is very important to maintain control of meal size, especially soon after the surgery.

Achieving and maintaining weight loss is dependent on adopting healthy lifestyle choices. With smaller meal size, patients usually enjoy fairly remarkable weight loss. Patients should capitalize on this weight loss implementing of an exercise program to improve cardiovascular health. It is important to work with physicians and other medical professionals to begin and maintain a comprehensive weight loss and maintenance plan.

Patients and physicians should remain vigilant for vitamin deficiencies, especially B12. It may take a good deal of time for vitamin B12 stores to deplete which is why routine testing for this and other vitamins is an important part of vertical sleeve gastrectomy aftercare.