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Gastric Bypass Guide
Lap Band Weight Loss Surgery
Traditional gastric bypass surgery dramatically reduces the size of the stomach by partitioning off a small section at the top of the stomach using a series of staples. In lap band weight loss surgery, a band placed around the top end of the stomach, replaces the staples.
Although banding surgery has been in use since 1985, the term lap band surgery was coined in 1993 when the American company INAMED Health designed the BioEntric ® LAP-BAND ® Adjustable Gastric Banding System and the LAP-BAND ® system was first introduced in Europe. Adjustable lap band surgery was granted FDA approval for use in the United States in 2001.
This form of surgery is becoming increasingly popular and, although weight loss tends to be slightly slower than it is with older forms of surgery such as the Roux-en-Y and requires the patient to work harder in the first couple of years after surgery, weight loss is comparable and it often leads to a better eating regime and good long-term weight stability.
Lap band surgery is also favored by many patients because it requires a relatively short stay in hospital followed by a fairly fast recovery. Additionally, surgery is fully reversible (there is no cutting or stapling of the stomach) and gives rise to fewer post-operative complications.
Perhaps most importantly, however, is the fact the mortality rate is about 0.05% compared to approximately 0.5% in the case of the long established and still widely used Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure.
Despite the fact that the lap band system is a recent innovation its growing popularity is being helped along by a number of celebrities who have had the procedure including Muhammad Ali’s daughter Khaliah, Anne Diamond, Brian Dennehy and Ann Wilson.
In the article section of this website we will be looking in greater depth at various aspects of lap band surgery including the theory behind the procedure and just how weight loss is achieved in the months following surgery.
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