What is SADI? The new weight loss surgery Remi Bader had that removes 80% of the stomach

In a new interview with Khloé Kardashian, influencer Remi Bader revealed she underwent a new weight loss surgery that cut 80 percent of her stomach.

“So it’s called SADI,” Bader, 30, said during the reality star’s most recent episode of her podcast, Khloé in Wonder Land.

According to Mercy, SADI, otherwise referred to as Single Anastomosis Duodenal Switch, is a weight loss surgery designed for people with severe, or class three obesity, meaning they have a BMI (body mass index) of 40 or greater with “at least 100 pounds of excess weight.”

“The SADI procedure combines sleeve gastrectomy with intestinal bypass to promote greater weight loss,” the website states. “For people with severe obesity, the laparoscopic SADI procedure may be the best surgical weight loss option. It results in longer-lasting weight loss and less regain than other types of bariatric surgery.”

The procedure includes the removal of 80 percent of the stomach in order to create a “tube-shaped sleeve,” as well separating the top part of the small intestine called the duodenum and moving it below the stomach before reattaching it to the bottom part of the same intestine.

Repositioning the duodenum cuts the small intestine in half, which therefore decreases calorie absorption, per Mercy.

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According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, an estimated 1,600 SADI procedures were performed in 2022, up from 488 in 2020.

“SADI is sometimes performed for people who’ve had sleeve gastrectomy but didn’t lose the expected weight or have regained weight,” Mercy states.

Sleeve gastrectomy is a separate weight loss procedure that removes only part of the stomach, reshaping the rest into a tube to hold less food and limit intake.

SADI-S (with sleeve gastrectomy) was first introduced in medical writing by Andrés Sánchez-Pernaute and Antonio Torres in 2007 as a method to simplify the biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch technique (BD-DS).

Undergoing SADI after sleeve gastrectomy “adds an intestinal bypass and may involve reshaping the gastric sleeve” depending on the individual’s needs.

After getting SADI, patients must book follow-up care appointments regularly for the rest of their life. They also are required to adhere to strict nutritional guidelines as outlined by their bariatric team.

Benefits of the procedure include restricted meal sizes, decreased appetite, improved metabolism, and lower risk of gastric ulcers.

SADI can also trigger “remission of conditions like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and obstructive sleep apnea” and “preserve the pyloric valve (where food passes from the stomach to the intestine), which helps decrease bile reflux and stomach irritation,” per Mercy.

However, SADI can also potentially cause several complications such as bleeding/blood clots, infection, low blood sugar, leaking, malnutrition, dehydration, hernia, gallstones, spleen and organ injuries, and vitamin/mineral deficiencies.

In addition, the procedure could cause dumping syndrome which is “a condition in which food, especially food high in sugar, moves from your stomach into your small bowel too quickly after you eat,” according to Mayo Clinic.