just heard on our local news station this morning that half of all lapbands end up being removed due to complications.

I have read the sad stories from several/many former lapbanders however I never thought the % rate was that high.

Still embracing my band here and hoping that it continues to be a long lasting love affair!

..joy

That report startled me too but....reading the report in its entirety sheds a new light (nothing new really). Thanks for bringing this up. So far so good for me.

http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/03/22/study-adds-to-growing-ev idence-that-lap-band-surgery-is-risky/

Study Adds to Growing Evidence That Lap-Band Surgery Is Risky

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By Catherine Donaldson-Evans Mar 22nd 2011 2:00PM

Categories: News

Half of those who try Lap-Band surgery have to get the implants taken out later because the implants stop working or erode, according to a new study.

Laparoscopic gastric banding, which involves inserting adjustable bands or rings over the stomach and inflating them with saline to limit how much food can pass through, has become a popular weight loss treatment, but growing evidence has shown that it's a risky procedure.

Researchers from Saint Pierre University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, tracked 82 people for at least 12 years after they'd had the operation. All the patients had the procedure at the same hospital betwee***** and 1997.

The scientists found that 49 of them had to undergo at least one revision surgery because the device malfunctioned or they suffered complications, ABCNews.com reported.

The findings in the Archives of Surgery also showed that 41 of the patients had their Lap-Bands removed later and 14 of those had a gastric bypass procedure as a result. The reason? In the majority of cases, patients hadn't lost a sufficient amount of weight or the band stopped working properly.

"The high failure rate of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, at least in our hands, could be detrimental to its future continued widespread use as a restrictive weight loss operation," wrote the authors led by Dr. Jacques Himpens.

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Still, some were happy with the results of the surgery. Of the 78 patients who expressed their level of satisfaction with the initial procedure, 60 percent reported being "very pleased" or "pleased," according to the study.

During follow-ups, the researchers documented that on average, those who'd had Lap-Band surgery lost 43 percent of their original extra weight, with a body mass index decrease of 7.8 points, ABC reported.

Thirty-two of the 82 who were tracked said they'd had serious complications from the Lap-Banding, 23 of them experiencing erosion of the implants and nine having pouch dilation. Nineteen of the 23 required removal of the bands or gastric bypass surgery. Six of the nine had to have the devices taken out.

The scientists said obesity-related conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnea, didn't improve in patients over the course of the study. In fact, the chances of developing them stayed the same or rose, they said.

Not surprisingly, the results were the best in patients who didn't have problems with the bands slipping.

The authors admitted that their research had shortcomings, particularly since they focused on only one institution performing the surgery and they conducted the study when the technology had just been introduced in the 1990s.

Researchers from Saint Pierre University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, tracked 82 people for at least 12 years after they'd had the operation. All the patients had the procedure at the same hospital between 1994 and 1997.

This is the sort of "study" that just doesn't do anyone any good...too small a group, and way too long ago to have any bearing on decisions we make today...the last people to be banded in this study were banded 14 years ago!  50% of them had to have their bands removed and the bands and methodology used then is no longer in use! 

Today bands are "installed" using the "pars flaccida" method, which stitches a bit of the stomach muscle around the band to hold it in place.  Band slips were common before this method was widely adopted, Topic: Gastric Banding Shown to be Safe and Effective, go to this link and read the entire study...it included only 200 patients, but did show that once the pars flaccida technique was employed, esophogeal dialation and slippage was reduced to zero.
 

EXACTLY, Steph!  Gotta read the fine print

I've come to the realization that if you have had a GOOD experience with the lapband, you can't imagine it being a bad experience for anyone else. And vice versa. That's all it boils down to.

I'm one of the "bad experience with the lapband" people, so it's hard for me to even imagine what it must be like to NOT have complications with it. The people who have never had a complication with the band simply can't imagine how bad the complications can get.

I hope that it proves untrue that half of the lapbands end up having to be removed, but the doubting part of my mind insists that it's true... because of my experience with the band.  But I fully acknowledge that I'm influenced by my own experience with it.