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Surgery > Gastric Banding (LAP-BAND® System) Gastric Banding (LAP-BAND® System )
In 2001, the FDA approved gastric banding (Lap-Band®) for use in the United States. Gastric banding has been used in Europe and Australia for many years. The fact that it is easier to place and can be done laparoscopically with an overnight stay in the hospital make the concept of gastric banding attractive to many people, but as always the most important considerations must be overall safety and weight loss.
There is a two-night hospital stay for gastric bypass and Lap-Band® patients in our program, for either open or laparoscopic procedures, and many of our patients have returned to non-manual labor jobs within 7-10 days.
How Does a Lap-Band® Work?
In a surgical procedure, the Lap-Band® is placed around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small pouch that can hold only a small amount of food. The narrowed opening between the stomach pouch and the rest of the stomach controls how quickly food passes from the pouch to the lower part of the stomach. The system helps the patient eat less by limiting the amount of food that can be eaten at one time and increasing the time it takes for food to be digested.
Depending on the patient's needs, after the device is implanted the narrowed opening between the pouch and the lower part of the stomach can be adjusted in size by inflating or deflating the hollow band. Inflating the band makes the opening smaller, causing food to pass more slowly. Deflating the band makes it wider, causing food to pass more quickly. This adjustment is made by adding or removing fluid inside the hollow band. The doctor does this by injecting or removing the fluid through a small button-like access port. This access port is placed under the skin in a muscle in the chest wall. The port is connected to the band by the tubing.
What Are the Benefits of a Lap-Band®?
The LAP-BAND System utilizes a minimally invasive approach, wherein surgeons use laparoscopic techniques to implant an inflatable band into the patient's abdomen. Like a wristwatch, the band is fastened around the upper stomach to create a new, tiny stomach pouch that limits and controls the amount of food a patient can eat. It also creates a small outlet that slows the emptying process into the stomach and the intestines, meaning patients experience an earlier sensation of fullness and are satisfied with smaller amounts of food.
Since there is no cutting, stapling, or stomach re-routing involved in the LAP-BAND System procedure, it is considered the least traumatic and one of the safest forms of weight loss surgery. The laparoscopic approach to the surgery offers the advantages of reduced post-operative pain, short hospital stays, and quick recovery for patients. If for any reason the LAP-BAND System needs to be removed, the stomach generally returns to its original form.
The only approved adjustable weight-loss surgery treatement, the LAP-BAND System can be customized for each patient's weight-loss rate. As patients' individual needs change, the band can be adjusted accordingly, with the band size modified when its inner surface is inflated or deflated with saline solution. What Results Can Be Expected from the LAP-BAND®?
Weight loss is slower with the Lap-Band than with Roux-en-Y gastric
bypass, but progresses over a two to three year period then stabilizes,
usually in the range of a 50-60 percent loss of excess weight for
LAP-BAND System patients.
What Are the Risks of a Lap-Band®?
The most common side effects include nausea and vomiting, heartburn, abdominal pain and slippage of the band, which in the most serious cases can require another operation or hospitalization.
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