What is Adjustable Gastric Band Bariatric Surgery
What is it: A gastric band, or Lap-band, is a silicone ring with an inflatable balloon on the inside surface that’s placed around the upper portion of the stomach. That balloon is connected to a small bit of tubing that goes out to a little port placed in the soft tissue underneath the skin in the abdomen.
The thought behind this is if we place this inflatable balloon at the top of the stomach, we can modulate how narrow that opening is at the top of the stomach and create a small pouch that prevents people from eating large meals. You want it to be tight enough that the food sits there for a while so people feel full after a meal, but not so tight that it prevents food from getting through altogether.
Who is the candidate of Gastric Band Surgery
This is an option for people with a BMI between 30 and 35 and a weight-related medical condition that wouldn’t necessarily qualify for another bariatric procedure.
It has to be somebody who’s willing to see their surgeon very frequently, because a lot of the time, especially initially, they require frequent adjustments of their gastric band to get it to the right level of inflation.
Someone undergoing gastric-band surgery also has to be aware that it may not have the best long-term results. “They could lose a lot of weight right now, but may have to remove the band 5 or 10 years down the road because it’s causing a problem,”.
Special considerations of Gastric Band Surgery
The Lap-band was popular about 10 to 15 years ago, but it has lost favor in recent years. That’s because, eventually, the narrowed opening at the top of the stomach becomes too narrow and stays too narrow, even after you deflate the balloon. Then, people experience very severe acid reflux or pain after eating, or the esophagus will lose its ability to squeeze normally. “It’s not a dangerous procedure by any means,” but the results are a little bit disappointing in the long run and not necessarily worth it.
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