Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band
Bariatric surgeons at the Center for Weight Management and Metabolic Health offer gastric banding surgery that can help you lose weight without permanently altering your digestive tract.
What Is Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band Surgery?
Gastric banding is a weight loss procedure. Surgeons place an inflatable surgical band around the top portion of the stomach. The band is customized to your stomach and hunger levels, making this a unique bariatric surgical procedure.
How Does a Gastric Band Work?
Gastric band surgery makes your stomach feel full sooner by creating a small pouch at the top. This procedure reduces the amount of food you need to eat to feel full. It doesn't affect how your body absorbs nutrients during digestion.
Gastric Band Procedure
Our surgeons place an inflatable band around the top portion of the stomach, forming a small pouch, or "first" stomach, roughly the size of an egg. Once the band is in place, it creates a narrow opening from the first stomach into the larger second stomach.
We then place a port just under the skin on your abdomen. The port allows us to connect a tube to inflate or deflate the band to change the size of the opening. We perform this surgery using minimally invasive techniques, resulting in a shorter, more comfortable recovery.
Gastric Band Adjustment
You will need follow-up visits to adjust the size of the band for comfort or changing health goals. Your surgeon will help you determine if you need an adjustment. Reasons for an adjustment include:
- Hunger
- No (or very slow) weight loss
- Difficulty swallowing
- Heartburn
- Night coughs
- Regurgitation
Digestion After Gastric Band Surgery
After gastric band surgery, you feel full much sooner. The band slows the digestive process, limiting the passage of food from the esophagus into the stomach. Because the first stomach is so small, you'll find that small amounts of food will satisfy your hunger.
What to Expect After Gastric Band Surgery
Most patients go home the same day. After you go home, these dietary and lifestyle changes will help you stay healthy and feel your best:
- Maintain a temporary liquid diet: After surgery, you will progress from a strictly liquid diet back to solid foods. Our dietitians help you plan your meals, so you know what to expect.
- Slow chewing: Because your new first stomach fills up fast, it's essential to slow down. Chew your food slowly to avoid filling up too quickly and becoming too full or uncomfortable.
- Mindful chewing: The gastric band creates a very narrow opening into the stomach, so thorough chewing is important. Large, dry food particles will have a hard time passing through the opening, which can cause food to back up into the esophagus. Be mindful of what you're eating and how thoroughly you're chewing.
Your health will start to improve after gastric band surgery:
- Fewer weight-related conditions: As you lose weight, you will notice that complications from excess weight will start to resolve. During the next few months, you will experience a decline in diabetes, joint pain, hypertension, sleep apnea and other complications.
- Weight loss: Gastric banding will help you lose weight quickly, about two to three pounds per week. Over the first year, you can expect to lose, on average, 40% of the excess weight.
Gastric Band Adjustment and Follow Up
Gastric band surgery is the only form of bariatric surgery that is adjustable and reversible in the event of complications. Follow-up care with your doctor is essential to ensure the band remains comfortable and is functioning as it should. Appropriate and timely adjustments help you achieve good results.
Talk to our experts to find out if gastric banding is a good fit for you.
Have Questions or Need Help?
To make an appointment or refer a patient, call us or send a message to the Weight Loss Program. You can also have us call you back at your convenience.