More than half of all Americans are overweight, the Cleveland Clinic reported in 2010, and around 12 million are severely obese, weighing more than 100 pounds over their ideal weight. Statistics like these make it easy to understand why over half a million people have had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, often called lap band surgery, done, the Consumer Guide to Bariatric surgery reports. Lap band surgery is less invasive and has fewer complications than gastric bypass surgery, a more extensive surgery that bypasses part of the stomach, but it does have its own risks.
Qualifications
To qualify for lap band surgery--and to have your insurance cover the cost--a person must have a body mass index, or BMI, of 40 or greater or have a BMI of 35 or more and have co-existing medical conditions that could improve with weight loss, such as diabetes or heart disease.
Procedure
Lap band surgery is done under general anesthesia. A surgeon makes between two and five small incisions into the abdomen and inserts the laparoscope, a lighted tube that allows him to see inside the abdomen via video monitor. He inserts instruments through the other openings and places a thin band around the stomach, separating it into a small top pouch and a larger lower pouch. The band, which has saline inside it, is adjusted several times during the first few months after surgery through a port that is accessed with a needle through the abdomen. Band adjustments help correct problems with losing too much or not losing enough weight.
Benefits
The smaller stomach pouch causes a person to feel full after eating a smaller than normal amount of food. Adjustable lap band surgery leaves tiny scars that don't require stitches, which shortens recovery time compared to gastric bypass surgeries. Most people go home within a day after surgery.
Recovery
The amount of food allowed gradually increases over the first few weeks. For two weeks, only liquids are allowed, followed by two weeks of pureed food, then semi-solid food and finally solid food. The first band adjustment is done around six weeks after the surgery and a total of four to six times over the first year.
Results
Weight loss occurs more slowly with lap band surgery than gastric bypass surgery. Most people lose between one-third to one-half of their excess weight, MedlinePlus reports. It can take up to three years to lose the maximum amount of weight.
Complications
Although lap band surgery is less invasive than gastric bypass, surgical and postoperative complications can still occur. The death rate from lap band surgery is 0.1 percent, but 5 to 10 percent of people have major or minor complications after surgery, the Washington University of St. Louis School of Medicine warns. In addition to typical surgical risks of bleeding, infection, anesthesia reactions, blood clots and pneumonia, lap band surgery complications include possible slippage of the band, requiring another surgery or stomach erosion from the band. Band leakage can cause the band to deflate, also requiring further surgery.
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