Who Can Benefit From Gastric Band Surgery, and Who is a Candidate for Gastric Band Revision?

Weight loss surgery is an effective, long-term solution for severe obesity. These procedures help people lose significant amounts of excess weight, reverse weight-related diseases, and improve their quality of life.

Deciding to go ahead with weight loss surgery is no easy task, given the fact that some of the more popular procedures permanently alter the size of the stomach. People with fears about this type of permanency may look for other options, like gastric band surgery, which is adjustable and reversible. 

Unfortunately, gastric band surgery, also called laparoscopic gastric banding or lap band surgery, isn’t as successful at promoting weight loss. It may also cause complications, requiring gastric band revision surgery.

At Transform Bariatrics in Greenbelt and Rockville, Maryland, our skilled bariatrician, Dr. Hitesh Amin, performs lap band revision surgery. In this month’s blog, we want to talk about gastric band surgery, who might benefit from the procedure, and when it’s time to consider gastric band revision surgery. 

About gastric band surgery

Gastric band surgery is a minimally invasive weight loss surgery that involves placing an inflatable silicone band around the upper part of the stomach. The silicone band connects to a port under the skin. Your weight-loss surgeon injects saline fluid into the port to tighten the band, reducing the size of your stomach and limiting the amount of food you eat to lose weight.

Surgeons use minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery to place the gastric band, inserting the band through tiny incisions made in the abdomen with a laparoscope (surgical camera and light) and special surgical tools. 

Who can benefit 

Obesity is a severe disease that affects every aspect of a person’s life. When diet and exercise fail to lead to long-term weight loss and your weight is putting your health at risk, then weight loss surgery is something you may consider.

In general, people who may benefit from gastric band surgery have a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher or a BMI of 30 or higher with severe medical conditions like Type 2 diabetes or heart disease that can improve with weight loss. 

Our skilled weight loss surgeon conducts a thorough evaluation during a weight loss surgery consultation to determine who can benefit and then discusses procedure options. 

Candidates for gastric band revision

Gastric band surgery was once the most popular weight loss procedure. However, now it’s rarely performed because of poor weight loss results and complications, such as:

• Stomach erosion
• Gastritis
• Severe heartburn
• Band or port infections
• Injury to other organs
• Band slippage

If you have a gastric band and you’re unhappy with your weight loss results, or you have serious complications, we may consider you a candidate for gastric band revision. For gastric revision surgery, we remove the device and perform a gastric sleeve or gastric bypass procedure. 

Despite the advancements in weight loss surgery, many people may still prefer a reversible option. So, instead of gastric band surgery, we offer the gastric balloon, a nonsurgical and reversible weight loss procedure that gets weight loss surgery results without complications. 

No matter what, you need to know that you don’t have to lose weight alone. Many options can help you reach your goals, and we can help you decide what makes the best choice for you. Call our office or request an online consultation with our weight loss experts.