Millions of Americans struggle with their weight, and a distinguished amount are fighting against obesity. With the posthaste food epidemic, less exercise and more convenience, the hardier constitutions of people one hundred years ago are few and far between. Because obesity is not only depressing, but also a health risk, weight loss surgeries and procedures are sometimes the only option in order to live a healthy lifestyle. Of all of these procedures, lap band surgery is the least evasive and the most popular.
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 aid patients struggling with “morbid obesity”, lab band surgery was first conceived more than fifty years ago, starting with a diagram 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 plot with far fewer complications. The device 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 favorite 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 chunky after eating only a small portion of food, decreasing the possibility of overeating. Further, the band will also wait on 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 characterize 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 current 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 explore treatment.
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Filed under Gastric Banding by on Nov 30th, 2011. 
A gastric sleeve operation removes approximately 60 percent of your stomach so that it becomes a tube or sleeve instead of a sack. This procedure has numerous advantages over other gastric procedures that aid you lose weight. Some of these advantages include the lack of foreign objects, supplements, and hunger. This article will discuss some of the advantages of a gastric sleeve operation.
Hunger
One of the first advantages of a gastric sleeve is its ability to control hunger. During the operation, 60 percent of your stomach is removed, instead of being left in place like other procedures. This also removes most of the hormones in the stomach that are responsible for producing the sensation of hunger that you feel.
Foreign Objects
Another advantage of a gastric sleeve is that no foreign objects are left in your body. The gastric banding procedure leaves a number of objects that can lead to complications. The band may slip, erode, or become infected and can cause serious problems. The gastric sleeve operation has none of these complications associated with foreign objects.
Supplements
A gastric bypass requires an intestinal bypass. This can lead to protein and vitamin deficiency and force you to take special vitamins and supplements to get the nutrition you need. A gastric sleeve doesn’t require an intestinal bypass. Therefore, it is much less likely for you to have to select these special vitamins and supplements.
Function
A gastric sleeve operation reduces the volume of your stomach. Although your stomach will be smaller, it will still be able to function normally. You will still be able to eat most of the foods you have always eaten, although you will have to eat them in smaller amounts.
Weight Loss
One of the last advantages of a gastric sleeve is weight loss. The weight loss you experience happens much faster than some of the other procedures such as gastric banding. Most patients lose between 40-60% of excess weight within two years of the operation.
These are some of the advantages of a gastric sleeve operation. Since a large portion of the stomach is removed, the hormones that stimulate the sensation of hunger are also removed. Also, a gastric sleeve will not leave foreign objects in your body that can cause numerous complications. You likely won’t need to acquire special vitamins and supplements either since an intestinal bypass is not required for the design.
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Filed under Gastric Banding by on May 18th, 2011.
I have a family friend who recently underwent gastric bypass surgery. Thankfully she made it safely through the operation and is now recovering at home. While I wish her all the best in her battle against obesity, I began to wonder if there was something less invasive that she could have done. No; I don’t mean diet pills or another overnight success guaranteeing weight loss program. I know that she, like many of us Americans, have invested into those empty promises time and time again.
After seeing a tv commercial advertising the LAP-BAND procedure, I decided to see how the two procedures compared.
Unsurprisingly, 80% of all weight loss operations in the U.S. are gastric bypasses. And, although the LAP-BAND has received FDA approval, it has to be as successful or as widely used as the gastric bypass. Below is a list of myths from the Bariatric Surgery Center of Idaho comparing the two procedures.
FACTS AND MYTHS
THE OPERATION
FACT:
Laparoscopic RNY Gastric Bypass is a difficult operation to perform safely and may require the experience of 100 operations for a surgeon to attain excellence – but that goal can be accomplished. One simply needs to search for an experienced surgeon performing laparoscopic gastric bypass.
-Schauer, P. et al. The learning curve for laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is 100 cases.
Surgical Endoscopy. Vol. 17, 2003
LAP-BAND is easy to perform and is therefore a “safe” operation.
WEIGHT LOSS
MYTH:
LAP-BAND is “as effective for weight loss as Laparoscopic RNY Gastric Bypass”.
FACT:
Six of the best bariatric centers in the country doing Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass have demonstrated “excess body weight loss” (EBWL) of 69 to 84% at one year. We have averaged 82% EBWL at one year in almost 200 patients, and many of our patients reach “ideal body weight”.
With LAP-BAND “… weight loss was insufficient in slightly over 40% of the patients…“
A comparison of weight loss with bypass and banding, respectively, in 1200 patients showed EBWL
RISK OF DEATH FROM OPERATION
MYTH:
LAP-BAND is much safer than Laparoscopic RNY Gastric Bypass.
FACT:
The mortality rate with LAP-BAND is boasted to be about 0.05%. Mortality rate from recent data at six reputable centers doing Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass (including ours) which comprised a total of 2389 patients was 0.08%. This difference is not even statistically significant!
RISK OF COMPLICATIONS FROM SURGERY
MYTH:
LAP-BAND has fewer complications than Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass.
FACT:
The 1200 patient comparative study showed an “early complication rate” (first week after operation) of 4.2% with bypass and 1.7% with banding. “Late complications” (the first 18 months after operation) occurred in 8.1% with bypass and 9.1% with banding. Beyond this time, however, bypass patients will have almost none, while the band patients, with the foreign body in place, will watch inexorable progression of complications over time.
One “estimate of the failure rate (from complications with bands) indicates that removal is expected in almost one out of ten patients every year“.
-Scopinaro, N., et al. Thirteen Years of Follow-up in Patients with Adjustable Silicone Gastric Banding for Obesity: Weight Loss and Constant Rate of Late Specific Complications.
Obesity Surgery, Volume 14, 2004.
In another scientific surgical report there were 44% “late complications in 103 patients…20% had to be converted to gastric bypass…“.
-Weber, M., et al. Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass is Superior to Laparoscopic Gastric Banding for Treatment of Morbid Obesity. Annals of Surgery, December, 2004.
“Increasing experience with LAGB (bands) has shown a high incidence of long-term failure and complications…15-58% of the cases. Most of these complications require reexploration.“
“ As more than 70,000 patients worldwide have received a gastric banding over the past decades, it can be predicted that many patients will require ‘rescue’ or revision operations.“
-Mognol, P. et al. Laparoscopic Conversion of Laparoscopic Gastric Banding to Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: A review of 70 patients. Obesity Surgery. Vol. 14, 2004.
“… increasing experience with laparoscopic gastric banding (LAP-BAND) has shown a high incidence of long term failure…it can be predicted that we will notice many patients requiring rescue procedures…“
-Clavien, P. et al. Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, but Not Re-banding, Should Be Proposed as Rescue Procedure for Patients with Failed Laparoscopic Gastric Banding.
Annals of Surgery. December, 2003.
REVERSIBILITY
MYTH:
LAP-BAND is reversible. (As though the other operations were not!)
FACT:
If one could conjure up a scenario why a weight loss operation would have to be reversed, laparoscopic gastric bypass could be reversed with a laparoscopic procedure at many institutions with a two day hospitalization and one week recovery.
Why would you tout a treatment for a lifelong disease such as obesity as having the benefit of being temporary, unless you knew it would have to be temporary? Obesity would return rapidly. A good operation should be done “for life”, and provide normal eating patterns and normal quality of life. Thousands of patients are now twenty years out from their Roux-en-Y gastric bypass with no problems, whatsoever.
LONG TERM WEIGHT LOSS MAINTENANCE
MYTH:
With RNY you will regain your weight.
FACT:
It has been documented with long term follow-up that weight loss remains excellent over five years after the operation.
-MacLean, L., et al. Unhurried Outcome of Isolated Gastric Bypass.
Annals of Surgery. April, 2000.
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Filed under Gastric Banding by on Feb 26th, 2011.
With obesity on the rise today, many are looking at surgery as a snappy means to lose weight and to prefer care of health problems related to being overweight. Gastric bypass surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, is a drastic surgery done to help befriend obese people in weight loss. Since unusual technologies for this surgery has been developed, making it less painful, and cutting healing time in half, this surgery has increased in popularity. Surgery increases were 450% between 1998 and 2002, going from 12,775 to 70,256. In 2004 the number of surgeries were estimated to be about 171,200.
Gastric bypass surgery is done laproscopically, in most cases. The physician creates a petite pouch at the top of the stomach and adds a bypass around a segment of your small intestines. Your stomach is then stabled across the top, sealing it off from the rest of your stomach. The end result of the new stomach pouch is about that size of a walnut and can hold about an ounce of food.
This surgery is not for everyone, nor does everyone seeking this drastic surgery qualify. It is only for the extremely obese. There are certain criteria that a person must meet in order to get the gastric bypass surgery done. Some of the criteria for surgery are: 1. You must have a body mass index of 40. 2. You must have a body index of 30 or higher. 3. You must be 90 lbs overweight or more. 4. You have been obese for at least 5 years. 5. You have tried all other methods to lose weight.
There are advantages to having this surgery, the most obvious is losing weight and feeling healthy. Before many have the surgery they are usually plagued with a number of health issues from high blood pressure to diabetes. Many are on several medications to control these illnesses. After surgery many see a major improvement with their health problems. 80% of patients, within 2-3 months after surgery, will manufacture normal cholesterol levels and lower blood pressures. 90% of patients, who had type-two diabetes, will obtain excellent results within a few days after surgery. Some patients will even become medication free.
There are health risks as well when having gastric bypass surgery. Lung problems can occur by lack of motion of the chest wall. Deep breathing and lung exercises can prevent this. Another risk would be leakage of bowel connections. This happens when the connection of the bowel to the original stomach does not form a complete seal. This can become a serious complication. Everyone takes a risk, but the outcome to be thinner and healthier outweighs the risk for most people.
I was able to interview Jennifer who under went gastric bypass surgery about a year ago and here is what she said:
Dawn: Have you always had weight problems?
Jennifer: I have been overweight since I was 7 years old. Got worse when I hit puberty and kept getting worse!
Dawn: What diets/pills have you tried? Did they ever work?
Jennifer: I was on Weight Watchers when I was in junior high and did ok on that. I also took phen/fen and lost weight with that but then it was pulled because of causing heart problems and I ended up with some problems from taking that. I also would go on Atkin’s Diet and would lose some, but not much.
Dawn: Did you have any medical problems before surgery that were directly related to weight?
Jennifer: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Sleep Apnea, Hypertension, Edema in my feet and ankles, Infertility, Insufficient Aortic Valve, Mitral Valve Prolapse.
Dawn: How did you learn of gastric bypass surgery?
Jennifer: From the news on TV at first, then researched it on the Internet.
Dawn: Did you research the pros and cons of gastric by-pass?
Jennifer: I researched it on the Internet, through other people that had had it…I read a lot of online journals and joined some online support groups, and then did more research through my doctor.
Dawn: What finally lead you to the decision to get the surgery done?
Jennifer: It was getting harder and harder to maintain up with 2nd graders and I wasn’t as good of a teacher as I had been…didn’t have enough energy and my feet and ankles would swell everyday. I also want to have a baby and knew that I couldn’t accept pregnant at that weight and wouldn’t be able to care for a baby at that weight…no energy.
Dawn: What emotions were you feeling the day of surgery?
Jennifer: I was very scared…it was my first surgery ever…never had a broken bone, stitches, or been in the hospital before, but I was a woman on a mission. When I look back on it, I was given strength by God, that is the only scheme I can explain it because I don’t see how I went through with it if God wasn’t there making it happen…if that makes sense.
Dawn: After your surgery did you have any complications? How long did it grasp you to heal?
Jennifer: After my surgery the worst thing that happened was a horrible period that lasted about a week…super painful…worst cramps ever, but since then, my periods have become less painful and a lot lighter and shorter. I haven’t really had any side effects. I can’t take aspirin, steroids, or anti inflammatories anymore so that is hard because I can’t take Advil when I was used to taking a lot of that. Those meds can cause stomach ulcers, which is why post ops can’t choose those meds. It took about 7 days for my stomach to stop feeling tender. I still have scars where my incisions were, but no pain at all. I have to take vitamin supplements daily to help me with nutrition.
Dawn: What foods can you eat and not eat?
Jennifer: I have a hard time with bread because it is so soft. I also can’t eat a lot of sweets and ice cream makes me sick. Pecan pie on Thanksgiving made me extremely ill. Carbonated drinks design me feel yucky. I can drink sweet tea ok, but usually drink water. I had trouble with chicken for a while but now can eat that. I do well with soups, moist meat, fruit, vegetables, crackers, chips, beef, and seafood. I haven’t found anything that I can’t have just a small amount of it. I have done really well since the surgery.
Dawn: What was your starting weight before surgery?
Jennifer: 313 lbs
Dawn: How much weight have you lost?
Jennifer: 100 pounds
Dawn: What is your goal weight?
Jennifer: 150-ish
Dawn: Would you recommend this surgery to others?
Jennifer: YES! And I would recommend my doctor…Dr. JK Champion at the Videoscopic Institute of Atlanta. He does surgery at Emory Dunwoody Hospital.
Dawn: If you had to do it again, would you?
Jennifer: In a heartbeat!
If you are thinking of getting gastric bypass surgery, understand the pros and cons of having it done. Research and weigh the risks. Talk to others who have had it done as well as a bariatric surgeon. In the end it’s up to the individual and what is going to make them happy and healthy.
Related Posts
Filed under Bariatric Surgery by on Feb 16th, 2011.
With obesity on the rise today, many are looking at surgery as a swiftly means to lose weight and to take care of health problems related to being overweight. Gastric bypass surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, is a drastic surgery done to help aid obese people in weight loss. Since new technologies for this surgery has been developed, making it less painful, and cutting healing time in half, this surgery has increased in popularity. Surgery increases were 450% between 1998 and 2002, going from 12,775 to 70,256. In 2004 the number of surgeries were estimated to be about 171,200.
Gastric bypass surgery is done laproscopically, in most cases. The physician creates a tiny pouch at the top of the stomach and adds a bypass around a segment of your small intestines. Your stomach is then stabled across the top, sealing it off from the rest of your stomach. The end result of the new stomach pouch is about that size of a walnut and can contain about an ounce of food.
This surgery is not for everyone, nor does everyone seeking this drastic surgery qualify. It is only for the extremely obese. There are clear criteria that a person must meet in order to earn the gastric bypass surgery done. Some of the criteria for surgery are: 1. You must have a body mass index of 40. 2. You must have a body index of 30 or higher. 3. You must be 90 lbs overweight or more. 4. You have been obese for at least 5 years. 5. You have tried all other methods to lose weight.
There are advantages to having this surgery, the most obvious is losing weight and feeling healthy. Before many have the surgery they are usually plagued with a number of health issues from high blood pressure to diabetes. Many are on several medications to control these illnesses. After surgery many peek a major improvement with their health problems. 80% of patients, within 2-3 months after surgery, will effect normal cholesterol levels and lower blood pressures. 90% of patients, who had type-two diabetes, will obtain excellent results within a few days after surgery. Some patients will even become medication free.
There are health risks as well when having gastric bypass surgery. Lung problems can occur by lack of motion of the chest wall. Deep breathing and lung exercises can prevent this. Another risk would be leakage of bowel connections. This happens when the connection of the bowel to the new stomach does not form a complete seal. This can become a serious complication. Everyone takes a risk, but the outcome to be thinner and healthier outweighs the risk for most people.
I was able to interview Jennifer who under went gastric bypass surgery about a year ago and here is what she said:
Dawn: Have you always had weight problems?
Jennifer: I have been overweight since I was 7 years old. Got worse when I hit puberty and kept getting worse!
Dawn: What diets/pills have you tried? Did they ever work?
Jennifer: I was on Weight Watchers when I was in junior high and did ok on that. I also took phen/fen and lost weight with that but then it was pulled because of causing heart problems and I ended up with some problems from taking that. I also would go on Atkin’s Diet and would lose some, but not much.
Dawn: Did you have any medical problems before surgery that were directly related to weight?
Jennifer: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Sleep Apnea, Hypertension, Edema in my feet and ankles, Infertility, Insufficient Aortic Valve, Mitral Valve Prolapse.
Dawn: How did you learn of gastric bypass surgery?
Jennifer: From the news on TV at first, then researched it on the Internet.
Dawn: Did you research the pros and cons of gastric by-pass?
Jennifer: I researched it on the Internet, through other people that had had it…I read a lot of online journals and joined some online back groups, and then did more research through my doctor.
Dawn: What finally lead you to the decision to get the surgery done?
Jennifer: It was getting harder and harder to sustain up with 2nd graders and I wasn’t as good of a teacher as I had been…didn’t have enough energy and my feet and ankles would swell everyday. I also want to have a baby and knew that I couldn’t get pregnant at that weight and wouldn’t be able to care for a baby at that weight…no energy.
Dawn: What emotions were you feeling the day of surgery?
Jennifer: I was very scared…it was my first surgery ever…never had a broken bone, stitches, or been in the hospital before, but I was a woman on a mission. When I look support on it, I was given strength by God, that is the only way I can interpret it because I don’t see how I went through with it if God wasn’t there making it happen…if that makes sense.
Dawn: After your surgery did you have any complications? How long did it win you to heal?
Jennifer: After my surgery the worst thing that happened was a horrible period that lasted about a week…well-organized painful…worst cramps ever, but since then, my periods have become less painful and a lot lighter and shorter. I haven’t really had any side effects. I can’t take aspirin, steroids, or anti inflammatories anymore so that is hard because I can’t take Advil when I was used to taking a lot of that. Those meds can cause stomach ulcers, which is why post ops can’t take those meds. It took about 7 days for my stomach to stop feeling tender. I still have scars where my incisions were, but no afflict at all. I have to take vitamin supplements daily to abet me with nutrition.
Dawn: What foods can you eat and not eat?
Jennifer: I have a hard time with bread because it is so soft. I also can’t eat a lot of sweets and ice cream makes me sick. Pecan pie on Thanksgiving made me extremely ill. Carbonated drinks make me feel yucky. I can drink sweet tea ok, but usually drink water. I had trouble with chicken for a while but now can eat that. I do well with soups, moist meat, fruit, vegetables, crackers, chips, beef, and seafood. I haven’t found anything that I can’t have just a small amount of it. I have done really well since the surgery.
Dawn: What was your starting weight before surgery?
Jennifer: 313 lbs
Dawn: How much weight have you lost?
Jennifer: 100 pounds
Dawn: What is your goal weight?
Jennifer: 150-ish
Dawn: Would you recommend this surgery to others?
Jennifer: YES! And I would recommend my doctor…Dr. JK Champion at the Videoscopic Institute of Atlanta. He does surgery at Emory Dunwoody Hospital.
Dawn: If you had to do it again, would you?
Jennifer: In a heartbeat!
If you are thinking of getting gastric bypass surgery, understand the pros and cons of having it done. Research and weigh the risks. Talk to others who have had it done as well as a bariatric surgeon. In the destroy it’s up to the individual and what is going to make them happy and healthy.
Related Posts
Filed under Bariatric Surgery by on Dec 21st, 2010.