Lap Band Surgery Explained
Lap band surgery (a.k.a. obesity surgery, laparoscopic banding, gastric banding) is a procedure that is steadily growing in popularity and has currently been performed on more than 200,000 patients worldwide. It is considered relatively safe, and can solve obesity problems that have been lifelong struggles.
Designed to help patients struggling with “morbid obesity”, lab band surgery was first conceived more than fifty years ago, starting with a procedure called the jejunoileal bypass, progressing through the gastric bypass faze and into the world of lap band surgery, and is not performed with a laparoscopic technique.
Rather than a liposuction, which surgically removes fatty tissue, many patients choose lap band surgery as a restrictive procedure with far fewer complications. The procedure involves implanting an inflatable silicon band around the upper part of the stomach, which will restrict the appetite of the patient and assist in weight loss. This procedure can be easily reversed, and doesn’t involve the painful processes of stapling or stomach rerouting which are common in other weight loss surgeries.
The effects of lap band surgery are actually two-fold. First, the band will make sure that the patient feels full after eating only a small portion of food, decreasing the possibility of overeating. Further, the band will also help the patient to stay full for several hours at a time, which will discourage between-meal snacking.
With the absence of stapling and cutting of the stomach, the lap band surgery is considered the least-invasive as well as the least traumatic of all weight loss procedures. Patients have a shorter hospital stay and report less pain than patients who have had stomach stapling procedures. Even more convenient, if the lap band is removed, the stomach will re-inflate to his original shape.
After the patient has lived with the lap band for several months, he or she can request adjustments to the lap band if so desired. If the patient, for example, were to drop a large amount of weight, the diameter of the lap band could be increased to slow the weight loss rate. This can also be performed for women who become pregnant and need to accommodate the presence of a growing fetus. For adjustments to the lap band, the patient will not need to check in to the hospital, and it can be done through an injection or withdrawal of a saline solution.
Before the lap band surgery takes place, doctors will order a pre-operative screening including blood tests, imaging studies and other procedures. Lap band surgery can cost anywhere from $16,000 to $35,000, depending on your location and the doctor from whom you seek treatment.
