Men and women considering undergoing weight loss surgery may be in store for a state-of-the-art holiday gift. San Antonio’s own medical professionals are offering a much less-invasive surgical procedure; one that requires little more than a single, tiny incision!

Known as “gastric sleeve surgery,” this remarkable procedure is considered the midway point between gastric bypass surgery and LapBand procedures.  The steps for this procedure are as follows:

1. A single incision is made at the belly button.
2. The surgeon then inserts a camera and special tools.
3. Next, the surgeon removes the big, round part of the stomach. This comprises about 2/3 to 3/4 of the entire stomach. An area no bigger than a small tube is left to hold food. As a result, patients  eat much less and actually feel less hungry.

According to Dr. John Gonzales Jr., a frequent practitioner, the gastric sleeve procedure is winning over patients. “It’s not quite as invasive as the gastric bypass in that there’s no rearrangement of the anatomy. However, it’s a little bit more invasive than the band in that we’re excising a portion of the stomach,” he says.

The success of the gastric sleeve surgical procedure may be due to the removal of the stomach’s fundus. The left part of the stomach, this region allows gases produced by chemical digestion to accumulate for up to an hour. In addition, the hormone known as the grehlin, thought be a leading hunger hormone, is removed, as well. The entire gastric sleeve procedure takes less than 30 minutes, and any scars are concealed in the belly button.