Lose Weight with a Reversible Procedure

A lap band surgery has actually been around in our country for a good while now, probably since about 2002. And although it's still a good procedure, it's not as commonly performed as gastric sleeves nowadays, as well as gastric bypasses. Unfortunately, with lap bands, although it can be very successful for a lot of patients, it does require a little bit more management. There is an annual follow-up even when a patient loses the weight they desire so that we can continue to make sure the band's in the right position, that it's correctly controlling the patient's volume and appetite. And again, just to make sure that the band is functioning properly. So some of the benefits of a lap band, although it is a mechanical device, it is completely reversible. So, if a patient desires, somewhere down the road, that they really want to have the band removed, it is a 100% reversible procedure. It's very safe. There's actually no cutting. There's no stapling. There's no rerouting of the intestinal tract. We're basically taking a small silicone band and wrapping it around the upper part of the stomach. Lap bands do require motivation on the patient's part, good continuous long-term follow-up to make sure that they don't develop mechanical issues, you know, in the future. I think if a patient really takes that approach to their band and continues to be seen, band patients can do extremely well. We have patients in our practice who've had a lap band for over basically, 16, 17 years now, and still doing very well and maintain a good amount of weight loss.