Sleeve gastrectomy surgery

Learn about a weight loss surgery option with da Vinci technology.

Sleeve gastrectomy, or gastric sleeve surgery, is an operation that reduces your stomach size by about 80 percent to limit the amount of food it can hold.¹ Surgeons commonly perform sleeve gastrectomy surgery through a few small incisions using the da Vinci surgical system.

On this page you’ll find a 3D video showing the steps of the sleeve gastrectomy procedure, questions you can ask your doctor, and how to find a surgeon who performs bariatric surgery with the da Vinci system.

Ask your surgeon about robotic surgery outcomes

Every surgeon's experience is different. Be sure to talk with your surgeon about the surgical outcomes they deliver using the da Vinci system. For example, ask about:

Length of hospital stay
Complication rate
Rate of returning to the hospital within 30 days of surgery
Reoperation rate
Transfusion and/or blood loss
Chance of changing to an open procedure
Length of operation
Mortality rate

There are additional surgical outcomes you may want to talk about with your doctor. Please ask to discuss all important outcomes. Every surgery involves risk, and you can read more about those associated with bariatric surgery.

The da Vinci system is a tool used to perform minimally invasive bariatric surgery, but it does not treat obesity alone long term. A combination of diet, exercise, and maybe medication, and not surgery alone is needed to help patients achieve lasting weight loss.

It’s important to remember that Intuitive does not provide medical advice. After discussing all options, only you and your doctor can determine whether surgery with da Vinci is appropriate for your situation. You should always ask about your surgeon’s training, experience, and patient outcomes.

Types of Weight-Loss Surgery - NIDDK.” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Sept. 2020, www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/bariatric-surgery/types#gastric-sleeve

Disclosures and Important Safety Information

Important Safety Information

Patients should talk to their doctor to decide if surgery with a da Vinci system is right for them. Patients and doctors should review all available information on nonsurgical and surgical options and associated risks in order to make an informed decision.

Serious complications may occur in any surgery, including surgery with a da Vinci system, up to and including death. Serious risks include, but are not limited to, injury to tissues and organs and conversion to other surgical techniques which could result in a longer operative time and/or increased complications.

For important safety information, including surgical risks and considerations, please also refer to www.intuitive.com/safety. For a product’s intended use and/or indications for use, risks, full cautions, and warnings, please refer to the associated user manual(s).

The demonstration of safety and effectiveness for the representative specific procedures including bariatric surgery was based on evaluation of the da Vinci system as a surgical tool and did not include evaluation of outcomes related to the treatment of cancer (overall survival, disease-free survival, local recurrence), except for radical prostatectomy (dV Xi/X) which was evaluated for overall survival, or treatment of the patient’s underlying disease/condition. Device usage in all surgical procedures should be guided by the clinical judgment of an adequately trained surgeon.

Individuals’ outcomes may depend on a number of factors—including but not limited to—patient characteristics, disease characteristics, and/or surgeon experience.

Locating a doctor

Surgeons who perform surgery using the da Vinci system can be found using the Physician Locator. Intuitive Surgical provides surgeons with training on the use of the da Vinci system but does not certify, credential, or qualify the surgeons listed in the Physician Locator.