"I had been overweight for 14 years and I was ready to be physically active again. I had tried EVERYTHING to lose weight including Phen fen and Redux. A few things worked, but only temporarily. The weight always came back."
Gastric banding is designed to help you lose excess body weight, improve weight-related health conditions and enhance your quality of life by reducing your stomach capacity and restricting the amount of food that can be consumed at one time. The gastric banding procedure does not require stomach cutting, stapling or gastrointestinal re-routing to bypass normal digestion. It's the only adjustable and reversible weight-loss surgery available in the United States, and it's the only weight-loss surgery approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Gastric banding incorporates a silicone ring that is placed around the upper part of the stomach and filled with saline on its inner surface. This creates a new, smaller stomach pouch that can hold only a small amount of food. Gastric banding also controls the stoma (stomach outlet) between the new upper pouch and the lower part of the stomach. When the stomach is smaller, you feel full faster, while the food moves more slowly between your upper and lower stomach as it is digested. As a result, you eat less and lose weight.
Gastric Banding Advantages at a Glance
Least invasive surgical option
No intestinal re-routing
No cutting or stapling of the stomach wall or bowel
Small incisions and minimal scarring
Minimal trauma
Reduced patient pain, length of hospital stay and recovery period
Fewer risks of gastric banding, including side effects
Ten-times less operative and short-term mortality than gastric bypass
Low nutritional deficiency risks of gastric banding
Reduced risk of hair loss
Only surgical option designed to help maintain long-term weight loss
Stomach and other anatomy are generally restored to their original forms and functions
Effective long-term weight loss
More than 300,000 devices placed worldwide
Standard of care for hundreds of surgeons around the world
No. 1 selling adjustable band for weight loss
Academic publications with up to 10 years of follow-up
No "dumping syndrome" related to dietary intake restrictions
Completely adjustable, reversible and removable at any time
Allows individualized degree of restriction for ideal rate of weight-loss
Adjustments performed without additional surgery
Supports pregnancy by allowing stomach outlet size to be opened to accommodate increased nutritional needs
