Life Expectancy After Lap Band Surgery

In lap band surgery, also known as adjustable gastric banding, surgeons place an adjustable band around the upper part of the stomach to aid in weight loss. This band restricts the amount of food your stomach can hold.

Risks

• In a recent (2005) 12-year study of 1,791 consecutive lap band operations, published in Obesity Surgery Journal, found a mortality or death rate of zero. Complications including pouch or upper stomach swelling and slippage required follow-up surgery in less than 5 percent of patients. Other risks include dehydration and nausea.

Advantages

• Lap band surgery has far fewer complications than other types of bariatric or weight-loss surgery because it doesn't involve cutting or stapling. Small incisions allow insertion of a very small scope, called a laparoscope, through which the surgery is performed.

Recovery

• The procedure can be performed on an outpatient basis, and most patients can return to work within a week or less.

Weight loss

• In the 12-year study, weight loss averaged 26.3 kilograms, or about 58 pounds.

Morbid obesity

• According to the National Institutes of Health, morbid obesity carries a risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and some cancers. Morbid obesity is defined as weighing at least twice or 100 pounds more than your ideal weight.