What causes bands to break, slip or dissolve?

Zee's scepticism is understandable - and she is not someone who only puts forward good things about the band - her's let her down badly. The basic silicone material cannot "dissolve". If it broke into lots of pieces, the level of manufacturing defect must have been astounding. If he thought that a lack of restriction meant a slip, he may not have understood the nature of the band - slips lead to a dramatic increase in tightness unless the band has totally broken away from all sutures and slipped up the oesophagus - which would add appalling surgeon error to awful manufacturing defect.

Do you think either you or your brother may have misunderstood?

Kate

actually shocked she had a band placed with an esophageal achalasia diagnosis in place.

the 2 can't be good long term, specifically eating to push down food or the need to bring it back up.   there are other surgeries that might be a better fit; but for your wife - i suspect she might endure long term problems with the band....given prior diagnosis & "unstuck" rituals.

i wish her well.

Something the poster said, his wife does to get unstuck made me pause....

The only real way to get food "unstuck" is to try and eat other foods and pu**** down, when that is unsuccesful she needs to bring the food back up. Its not quite the same as throwing up as nothing has reached the stomach.

The last thing I was told I should do to get something unstuck was to eat or drink more.  In fact I did try it once and it DID make it worse.  What she should be doing is walking around with her arms in the air.  This helps move the food down.  But eating more food after while being stuck is a big mistake!!!

I think what he is saying is that eating more food is what she as to do with the oes achl.. The food gets stuck in the gullet and has to be pushed down to the stomach. And that this is difficult simply because it is, as you say, the opposite of what people with bands should do.

Kate

I'm very surprised a doctor would band her with that type of problem:

Contraindications

The LAP-BAND^® System is not right for you if:

• You have an inflammatory disease or condition of the gastrointestinal tract, such as ulcers, severe esophagitis, or Crohns disease.
• You have severe heart or lung disease that makes you a poor candidate for any surgery.
• You have some other disease that makes you a poor candidate for any surgery.
• You have a problem that could cause bleeding in the esophagus or stomach. That might include esophageal or gastric varices (a dilated vein). It might also be something such as congenital or acquired intestinal telangiectasia (dilation of a small blood vessel).
• You have portal hypertension.
• Your esophagus, stomach, or intestine is not normal (congenital or acquired). For instance, you might have a narrowed opening.
• You have/experienced an intra-operative gastric injury, such as a gastric perforation at or near the location of the intended band placement.
• You have cirrhosis.
• You have chronic pancreatitis.
• You are pregnant. (If you become pregnant after the LAP-BAND^® System has been placed, the band may need to be deflated. The same is true if you need more nutrition for any other reason, such as becoming seriously ill. In rare cases, removal may be needed.)
• You are addicted to alcohol or drugs.
• You are under 18 years of age.
• You have an infection anywhere in your body or one that could contaminate the surgical area.
• You are on chronic, long-term steroid treatment.
• You cannot or do not want to follow the dietary rules that come with this procedure.
• You might be allergic to materials in the device.
• You cannot tolerate pain from an implanted device.
• You or someone in your family has an autoimmune connective tissue disease. That might be a disease such as systemic lupus erythematosus or scleroderma. The same is true if you have symptoms of one of these diseases.

 Thanks for the responses, yes another UK poster, and to be honest you have replied on my posts from a few years back, might have even mentioned the same thing before.

Your are all partially right, the difficulties she has with swallowing often don't work well with the band. She will not have the band removed and to be honest does not regret the decision even with the problems it causes.

The best cause of action I feel would be to have a fill/empty of the band whenever times are good or bad. This would need to be done fairly regularly, say every month which is not done on the NHS so is going to cost us £200 a time. not something we can afford at all. The alternative is to treat it with medication, which does sometimes work but others not.............but at least its free.

Its all a very sticky situation I find myself in, on one hand I don't want her to do more damage to her body while trying to loose weight, on the other hand I don't want her to have it out only to gain the 100 pounds she has alread lost straight back, and in another hand at the end of the day this is all her decision, she is a grown women and knows exactly what is happening and what she is doing.

Thanks for the comments on what can happen with a band, I am particularly interested in if any particular type of behavior increases any risks.

I am particularly interested in if any particular type of behavior increases any risks.

These points are without any regard to your wife's other problems.

Risks of complication are increased by...

getting stuck too often, vomitting too often.
being too tight and so causing the above
continuing to eat after the full signs are reached and so continually putting pressure on the walls of the pouch and the lower oesophagus.

By the way, don't get too concerned by the post above about the lady whose brother's band dissolved etc! This created a lot of debate on the board (not just on this thread)but every poster said the same thing. Silicone cannot "dissolve" and the band is not going to break into" lots of pieces"! There are some people who had other surgeries who take time (bizarrely) to post scare stories!

Kate

 
With the esophageal problems... no.  Not really.  Sometimes it just clamps shut due to her basic medical problems.  Some days she might find it worse than other days.

As for the band... if she is getting stuck at that level than chewing better, food choices right for her, and slower eating will help.  If that doesn't, even a slight unfill will make a big difference.

Why did her surgeon do a band when that is one of the contraindications of banding?  Is that is all that is covered under the UK system?  Is she aware that the esophageal problems could continue to get worse with a band?  Honestly, I'm not 100% sure if the other surgery types would make a difference.  I know the band can cause a host of esophageal issues but I'm not 100% sure if a sleeve, bypass, or DS would be any better or not in her individual case.