• Gastric Banding Surgery

During the procedure, gastric banding surgeons usually use laparoscopic techniques (making tiny incisions rather than a large incision and inserting long-shafted instruments through “ports”), to wrap the gastric bands around the patient’s stomach. A narrow camera is passed through a port so the surgeon can view the operative site on a nearby video monitor. Like a wristwatch, the band is fastened around the upper stomach to create the new stomach pouch that limits and controls the amount of food you eat. The band is then locked securely in a ring around the stomach.

With no stomach cutting, stapling, or gastrointestinal re-routing, gastric banding surgery it is considered the safest, least invasive, and least traumatic of all weight-loss procedures. The laparoscopic approach to the gastric banding surgery also has the advantages of reduced post-operative pain, shortened hospital stay, and quicker recovery. If for any reason the system needs to be removed by gastric banding surgeons, the stomach typically returns to its original form.

Once placed around the stomach, tubing connects the system to an access port fixed beneath the skin of your abdomen. This allows gastric banding surgeons to change the stoma (stomach outlet) size by adding or subtracting saline, or salt water, inside the inner balloon through the access port. This adjustment process helps determine the rate of weight loss. If the band is too loose and weight loss is inadequate, adding more saline can reduce the size of the stoma to further restrict the amount of food that can move through it. If the band is too tight, the surgeon will remove some saline to loosen the band and reduce the amount of restriction.

The diameter of the band can be modified to meet your individual needs, which can change as you lose weight. For example, pregnant patients can expand their band to accommodate a growing fetus, while patients who aren’t experiencing significant weight loss can have their bands tightened. Gastric banding is also the only adjustable weight-loss surgery available in the United States to help maintain restriction and keep the weight off long-term.