This impacts the amount and consumption rate of food. The port allows the surgeon to adjust the size of the LAP-BAND System to meet individual patient weight loss needs by adding or removing saline to inflate or deflate the band. It is connected to an access port below the skin surface by thin, kink-resistant silicone tubing. The LAP-BAND System is an adjustable silicone band with an inflatable inner surface. Patients can typically resume normal activities within 1 week, which is quicker than with other surgical alternatives. In addition, the hospital stay is shortened to less than 24 hours, including overnight hospitalization. By avoiding the large incision of open surgery, patients generally experience less pain and scarring. The surgeon makes several tiny incisions and uses long, slender instruments to implant the device.
Since there is no cutting, stapling, or stomach rerouting involved in the LAP-BAND System procedure, it is considered the least traumatic of all weight loss surgeries. As a result, patients experience an earlier sensation of fullness and are satisfied with smaller amounts of food. Like a wristwatch, the band is fastened around the upper stomach to create a new, tiny stomach pouch. It induces weight loss by reducing the capacity of the stomach, thereby restricting the amount of food that can be consumed at one time. The LAP-BAND Adjustable Gastric Banding System is the newest surgical treatment for morbid obesity in the United States.
Laparoscopic or Open refers to the “approach” – it is still the RNY gastric bypass. It does, however, require adherence to a simple and straightforward behavioral plan. Weight loss of 80 – 100% of excess body weight is achievable for most patients, and long-term maintenance of weight loss is very successful. The Gastric Bypass provides an excellent tool for gaining long-term control of weight, without the hunger or craving usually associated with small portions, or with dieting. Patients feel indifferent to even the choicest of foods. A portion of the small bowel is bypassed causing malabsorption, which leads to more weight loss. “Dumping syndrome” causes the patient to have crampy abdominal pain, feel faint and have diarrhea. Most patients will experience “dumping syndrome” when they eat sweets. Even though the portion size may be small, there is no hunger, and no feeling of having been deprived. The result is a very early sense of fullness, followed by a very profound sense of satisfaction. The operation works by reducing food intake, and reducing the feeling of hunger. The lower part of the stomach is bypassed, and food enters the second part of the small bowel. The small intestine is cut about 18 inches below the stomach, and is arranged to provide an outlet to the small stomach, while maintaining the flow of digestive juices at the same time. This operation achieves its effects by creating a very small (around 1 ounce) stomach pouch from which the rest of the stomach is permanently divided and separated. The Roux en-y Gastric Bypass, is considered the “gold standard” of modern obesity surgery.