Things to know about stomach band surgery

You might know that in our days there are numerous surgeries that are meant to make the lives of people better and to make them feel better about themselves. There are a lot of procedures that have as their purpose the removal of excess skin and fat o make the patients lose weight. Some people think that this is the easy way out, but usually people turn to surgical procedures after they have tried every method including diet and exercise. Getting a surgery is a serious decision and you should have a lot of information about it before deciding to get it.

The stomach band surgery is also known as adjustable gastric lap-band surgery. You should know that the adjustable gastric lap-band is a hollow band made of sylastic. The surgeon places the band around the stomach, at the upper third portion this way creating a small pouch that in the beginning is able to hold two ounces of food. Later that pouch will stretch and it will be able to hold 4-6 ounces of food. This restriction will make the patient feel full for a longer period of time because the nerves that signal the brain with the sense of fullness are located in the upper part of the stomach. The band works in a way that allows the food to later get to the lower part of the stomach so that it will be able to be digested.



There is another part of the band, a tube that is connected to the abdominal muscles below the ribs. The main goal of the tube is to provide access to the band to add saline that will fill the band and so increase the restriction of the stomach. Naturally after the surgery the band is empty and usually after six weeks the surgeon adds a little saline in the band. The same thing happens in case the patient reaches the plateau in weight loss. Most of the cases the band can hold about 4-5 cc’s of saline, but the saline is added only in small amounts each time. The amount that the surgeon adds depends on the patient because each patient has individual needs.



The laparoscopic stomach band surgery is performed in the hospital in an operating room and the patient is under general anesthesia. To perform the surgery the surgeon must make 3-5 one and a half inch incisions in the upper part of the abdomen. In case there are no complications, the surgery lasts about one hour. I think it is important for every patient that wishes to get such a surgery to know about the possible complications, like adhesions from previous procedures and in such cases the laparoscopic surgery is impossible. If this is the case, the surgeon will opt for an open procedure that involves a five inch incision and that needs a longer recovery time. Now you know a lot more information about stomach band surgery and you might make your decision regarding the surgery.