This procedure is usually performed using a minimally invasive approach (that is, using the laparoscope).  It reduces the stomach from its usual bag-looking configuration to almost a tube, that extends from the esophagus to the duodenum (the duodenum is the beginning of the small intestine).  No dumping syndrome.  No need for band adjustments.  Although a sleeve gastrectomy cannot be reversed, it can be later on converted to a variety of other bariatric operations (for example, a gastric bypass or a duodenal switch).  As a matter of fact, the procedure has been around for a while as the first stage for the duodenal switch operation.  In its complexity and level of risk involved, it is somewhere between a laparoscopic gastric band and a gastric bypass.  Long term results, beyond few years, are not available yet.  The shorter-term results show weight loss that is more than a gastric band, but less than a gastric bypass.  There are certain situations when the sleeve gastrectomy appears to be a better fit than the Lap Band or a gastric bypass.  This procedure is certainly a welcome addition to the available surgical approaches that can be used selectively for the right situation.