How the Procedure Works

Lap Band surgery is technically called laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. The goal of the surgery is to help the patient achieve significant weight loss by limiting the amount of food that the stomach can hold at one time. Other bariatric surgeries involve actually changing the size of the stomach, or bypassing portions of the stomach altogether. Lap Band surgery is different, because it does not cut the stomach at all.

Instead, this surgery makes the stomach smaller by placing a silicone band around the upper portion of the organ. The band is a hollow tube that is filled with sterile saline, which makes it completely adjustable. It creates a pouch where the food that the patient eats enters to begin the digestive process. The pouch has an opening that allows the food to flow slowly into the rest of the stomach. This opening can be made smaller or larger depending on the patient’s needs by changing the amount of saline in the band. The band is put in place laparoscopically, which reduces much of the trauma on the body caused by stomach stapling or rerouting procedures.

After the patient is under anesthetic, the physician will begin the procedure by making several small incisions into the abdominal wall. The instruments for the surgery are inserted through tubes placed in these incisions. One such tool is a camera that shows the physician what is happening inside the body. Using small surgical instruments, the band is put in place and secured around the stomach. Once it is in place, the instruments and tubes are removed, the incisions are closed, and the surgery is complete.

Weight Loss After Surgery

The weight loss surgery creates a small gastric pouch at the top of the stomach. This pouch limits how much food the patient can eat. It also slows down the rate at which the stomach can empty into the intestines, effectively slowing the digestion rate. This allows the patient to feel full for a longer period of time.

Sometimes patients who have Lapband surgery do not experience enough weight loss or lose weight too rapidly. Either problem can be resolved by adjusting the band to allow more or less food through the opening. Adjusting the LapBand device is simple, because an access port is placed just underneath the skin during the surgery. A thin needle can add or remove saline from the band through this port whenever the patient’s doctor thinks it is necessary, and this procedure takes just a few minutes to do.

Weight loss for patients who have Lap Band surgery occurs for two reasons. First, the patient is eating less due to the smaller size of his stomach and the fact that he is feeling full longer. Second, patients who have this procedure done must carefully consider what they eat for its nutritional value, because they are eating much less than they did before. This helps to control weight as well, since healthy foods are chosen over junk foods. Because of the minimally invasive nature of this weight loss surgery, coupled with the high rate of success for patients who have it done, many obese individuals are choosing Lap Band surgery as their permanent weight loss solution.

Laparoscopic weight loss surgery is designed to induce weight loss by limiting food consumption. The adjustable gastric band is the safest surgical procedure for weight loss, unique because it is adjustable and reversible. When doing research for lap band Toronto surgery, be sure to visit the CIBO Weight Loss Clinic.

The fact that the lap band is adjustable is what makes it unique and very safe compared to other morbid obesity weight loss surgeries, such as a gastric bypass. The lap band placement surgery is so minimal that it can be done in an hour, with the patient having a one-day hospital stay. During surgery, a small access port is placed under the skin in a muscle of the abdominal wall for easy access to inject or remove the saline fluid, otherwise known as “a fill”. After surgery, the patient needs to see their doctor regularly to ensure the band is not too tight or too loose. Adjustments are made over time to make sure the lap band is working effectively.

The adjustable gastric band is an effective tool if you are committed to using it properly. The lap band alone will not resolve obesity; success depends on regular follow-ups and new eating habits. When following the guidelines set out by your doctor, side effects (such as band slippage, port site pain or displacement, and leakage of the reservoir, tubing or band) are minimized. In general, potential complications of lap band surgery are not serious, but as with any surgery, there is risk.