INDIANAPOLIS -- Jessica Doyle tried to eat healthy and exercise, but her body didn't respond the way she planned.

"I hit the 10th grade, (and my weight) fluctuated. It kind of started skyrocketing. My highest weight was 320," Doyle said.

Doyle turned to surgery to slim down. At the time, she had two options: gastric bypass, the gold standard; and lap band, a less-invasive procedure.

Both surgeries have a lot of stipulations, and not everyone qualifies.

"The patients that don't want gastric bypass don't want their intestines re-routed. The patients that don't want lap band don't like the idea of a foreign body," said Dr. Jon Mandelbaum, surgical co-director at the St. Francis Weight Loss Center.

The hospital is now offering obese patients a new alternative called sleeve gastroectomy.

The laparoscopic procedure removes about two-thirds of the stomach, leaving it in the shape of a banana.

Mandelbaum told 6News Staying Healthy reporter Stacia Matthews that people who are severely obese with a body mass index of 60 or higher qualify for the sleeve. It may be part of a two-stage operation. Patients may safely lose up to 100 to 150 pounds in a six-month period, at which point the weight loss may plateau and other procedures become less risky.

"When you compare the sleeve gastroectomy to the other procedures, it is at least as good or better weight loss than with lap band and similar weight loss to the gastric bypass," Mandelbaum said.

Studies involving 800 patients showed promising results. Within one or two years following the operation, patients lost more than 50 percent of their excess weight in as little as 18 months.

They also overcame chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea.

"It's a safe operation with a low complication rate, but we still need long-term studies because right now three years is the longest (study)," Mandelbaum said.

For more information, call the St. Francis Weight Loss Center at 317-782-7525.