Is Lapband Surgery Safe?

Lap-Band is a gastric banding system that helps users gradually lose and control their weight by limiting the amount of food the stomach can hold at one time. While this is a popular weight loss solution for some, there are many factors that should be considered when determining if Lap-Band surgery is safe for you.

Basic Requirements

• You should seek Lap-Band surgery only if you are more than 100 pounds overweight or have a body mass index of 40 or more.

Risky Health Conditions

• If you have a serious underlying health condition, Lap-Band surgery may be risky for you. Conditions include, but are not limited to: Crohns disease; severe heart or lung disease; chronic pancreatitis; or cirrhosis.

The Surgery

• This procedure is done through laparoscopic surgery, which involves a series of tiny cuts along the belly into which the surgeon inserts tools and a camera. He then wraps the Lap-Band device around the upper part of the stomach. Saline is added or removed from the band to make the stomach smaller or larger as needed.

Surgery Statistics

• As with all surgeries, Lap-Band carries many risks. During a U.S. clinical study, 1% of all patients who underwent the procedure had gastric perforation (tearing in the wall of the stomach) during the procedure, which lead to a need for additional surgeries. 88% of patients in the study reported some type of adverse effect relating to the Lap-Band surgery ranging from nausea and vomiting to stomach-band outlet blocking.

Specific Risks

• While Lap-Band is traditionally applied using laparoscopic surgery, which should be minimally invasive, it carries its own set of risks. These include but are not limited to: spleen or liver damage; perforation of the stomach or esophagus during surgery; damage to major blood vessels; or thrombosis (blood clots).

Get the Facts

• The best way to evaluate the risks of Lap-Band surgery is to speak with a surgeon who specializes in the procedure in addition to doing your own research.