Ghrelin

The "hunger hormone" produced primarily by the stomach. Sleeve gastrectomy removes the portion of stomach that produces most ghrelin, contributing to appetite suppression after surgery beyond just restriction. On ProcedureFinder, Ghrelin appears in the Gastric Sleeve Surgery cost guide. Long-term clinical registries show 55-65 percent excess weight loss sustained at 5 years (50-55 percent at 10 years), durable type 2 diabetes resolution in 50-60 percent of cases, and significant reductions in cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality.

Gastric Sleeve Surgery costs $9,500 to $25,000 per surgery (all-in) nationally, with a median of $16,000 in ProcedureFinder's cash-pay benchmarks. Laparoscopic removal of approximately 80 percent of the stomach to create a banana-shaped sleeve, restricting food intake and reducing hunger hormones.