Gastric Band

This is the most straightforward of the obesity surgery operations. The first laparoscopic band was placed in 1993 and more than 100,000 of these have been used world-wide, mainly in Europe. This operation takes under one hour to perform and patients usually just spend one night in hospital and have returned to work in two weeks.

Placement of the laparoscopic band

The operation involves placing a silicone band around the top part of the stomach. The band connects to a port by a thin tube and the port is placed under the skin. Along the inner part of the band is an inflatable ring. A fine needle is used to inject fluid through the skin into the port, which fills the silicone band and adjusts its size.

The band works by creating a small pouch reducing the amount of food that can enter your stomach. Patients with the band feel full after only a small amount of food. The rate at which the food passes through the band into the rest of the stomach is determined by the inner diameter of the band. The more the band is inflated the narrower the exit of the pouch becomes and the slower it empties. Over time the decreased food intake makes you lose weight.

The band works by re-educating your eating habits. It is not a magic cure. It is a tool to help you lose the weight by yourself. If you work with the band you will lose weight. If you eat too much you will simply regurgitate. You will need to work out for yourself how much you can eat before this happens. Usually this is about half to one cupful. You need to learn to avoid soft or liquid calories and to eat your meals slowly.

Long term complications of gastric banding include pouch dilatation (too great an enlargement), band slippage and band erosion. Some of these may need further surgery to correct them or adjustment of the band. However, very few bands ever need to be removed and infection of the band is rare. Fewer than 10% of patients get complications or don’t lose the desired amount of weight. The intention is to leave the band in place for life. Taking the band out would probably result in rapid regaining of all the excess weight.