Bariatric Surgery and Stomach Resection: What’s the Difference?

I am a bariatric surgeon, and I am often asked: what’s the difference between bariatric surgery and stomach resection?

🔹 Bariatric surgery is a branch of surgery that helps people lose weight and improve health issues related to obesity. There are several types of bariatric procedures, which you can explore on this page.

Some common procedures include:

• gastric bypass (Gastric bypass),
• sleeve gastrectomy (Sleeve gastrectomy),
• biliopancreatic diversion,
• gastric band and others.

🔹 Stomach resection (sleeve) is just one of these methods. During the procedure, about 70–80% of the stomach is removed, leaving a narrow “tube”.

This allows patients to feel full faster and reduces hunger, as less “hunger hormone” — ghrelin — is produced.

📌 In simple terms: bariatric surgery is the whole field of weight-loss surgery, while stomach resection is just one method within it.