What kind of band?

Right now there is a gentleman in the hospital because the band eroded through the stomach wall and caused gastric acid to leak throughout his abdomen.  He is dying.  He is not all that unusual.  Some doctors are saying that erosion happens in 1/3 of banded patients.  It is a serious issue, no less serious than a leak in any other WLS type.  Fixing a huge hole in your stomach is not easy surgery, it is drastic and major surgery.

Bands slip- a lot.  A severe slip which is also not uncommon can cut off the blood supply to your stomach killing it.  That means removing all or part of your stomach.

Bands are not even meant to be long term.  The band makers do not make this claim.  5-10 years at best.  Then you are looking at another surgery.  There are a handful of people that make it to 10 years but they are few in number.  Most ins co's are going to a once in a lifetime WLS so you WILL be self pay for a revision.  Start saving your pennies now because they are many thousands of dollars.

With all the research, stats, and studies available today one really has to do nothing, not even lift a finger to read up on elective major surgery.  Anyone who does serious research opts for a safer surgery type.  Bands have more complications than bypass in number.  They are just different complications.  If you want safe that would be a sleeve.  If you want most effective that would be DS.  If you want least effective, short term, complication ridden, that is a band.

I disagree with another poster here who claims bands can be reversible. The are not, they are removable.  ALL bands cause scar tissue and some amount of stomach damage.  ALL bands do.  Across the board, 100% of the time, every single one.

The ONLY doctors that claim you will be fine if you follow the rules are band mills, doctors that only do bands.  Don't fool yourself, they are not in business to give away their business to a better surgeon who is able to do all the surgery types.  Doctors are just business people like any other, lawyers, used car salesmen, garbage men, they all go to work to earn a living.  They will tell you what you want to hear to get your business.  They are not special people that are extra super duper honest.  This is your body and you have to live with this thing for a few years then you will have to self pay for a safer surgery type and then, you will finally believe us.

I would suggest you start doing some serious research, read some studies, read govt warnings, find 10 people who have a band for 10 years or longer and happy with it.  I don't believe you will find such a group of people.

If you want a band, fine!  Get one.  Just start saving money for your revision surgery because most ins co's aren't paying for 2 WLS types.  They think you should do a bit of reading and make sure you get a life long surgery the first time.  Not something known well to be ineffective nor safe long term that will need to be removed in a few years.

No band.  If you don't want to reroute your insides, band isn't reall an option.  I have a complication that might cause me to lose my esophagus and I'm not alone.

This is page two of the sticky at the top of the forum page:

 

LAGB is a simple surgical procedure, that is initially enticing to patients.  My view is buyer beware. Living with a band can be a greater challenge than expected.  Band advocates claim that it is reversible.  This is not true.  It is removable and the band causes a scarring reaction that persists following extraction and makes conversion to other bariatric procedure more complex.  Often, I hear they are less invasive.  However, all of our procedures are done minimally invasively.  Recovery from band surgery is rapid,.  Unfortunately, as time passes and the band is filled, complications increase.  As a result, the reoperation rate for bands is approximately 5% per year.  The extraction rate is also not low. I anticipate that over a ten year duration, at best, 50 to 60% of bands will remain in place.  When extracted, most require conversion to other bariatric procedure, or weight gain is inevitable.  The high reoperation rate, and risk of revision, make me question those who highlight the reduced risk of perioperative complication that lap band offers. After all,  the revision will be more difficult than just doing a longer lasting primary procedure.

Most importantly, the band does not impact any of the hunger signals that we have been able to study.  I also question its mechanism of action.  The band functions to create a high pressure zone just past the esophagus, the tube that transports food from the mouth to stomach.  As the pressure is raised, the esophagus has to work harder.  Until the pressure reaches a certain point, the patient feels little restriction.  Once too high, the pressure has an adverse impact on the muscular esophagus.  This results in patients having heartburn ordysphagia when the band is too tight, and then feeling no restriction when loosened.  Proponents of banding believe that there is an ideal point, or green zone.  My experience has shown that this exists for some people.  For others, the band can be frustrating to both patient and provider.

At our seminars, I describe the band as a diet with a seat belt.  By this I mean it does not create the same feeling of anorexia that is seen following the stapling procedures. It will force you to eat slowly, and chew your food.  It will make it more difficult to eat meat products and bulky vegetables. Often, though it will not make you less hungry and thus encourage consumption of foods that pass the bands easily.  These include things like ice cream and cheese doodles, crackers and pretzels. Furthermore, there is no accurate method to predict who fill thrive or fail with a lap-band.

Interestingly, public awareness of these facts is increasing.  While the term lap-band is still commonly searched on the internet, more patients and practices are turning to other procedures.  In the last two years, band sales have declined by 40% in the United States. I believe that this is happening because of patient communication.  More now realize that the marketing and results are not equal.

Do we still offer bands?  The answer is yes.  I have seen some great results.  However, in the last year our group removed 80 bands with conversion to other bariatric procedures.  None of the patients that had the band removed wanted to be in this group.  All selected their procedure hoping it would provide long-term control.  I expect this trend to continue. Allergan, maker of the lap-band, is determined to sell the franchise.  It would not be surprising if the acquirer drastically remodels the product.  In general, once a medical device declines, there is usually no recovery.

 

 

http://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/choice-of-bariatric-proc edure-a-philosophy-obtained-in-20-years-of-bariatric-practic e-2/

Wow. I thought it was reversible? And why do so many have to get it out? Who wrote that?

Many of us have the idea that it is reversible.  That was one of the big reasons I got the Band.  I wanted something that wouldn't permanently alter my body.  The LapBand can, doesn't always, but does often do permanent damage to your body.  Dismotility is a big issue that causes life long problems.  I have a friend who lost her entire stomach thanks to the LapBand.  She also didn't lose one pound the entire time she had her band because she never had her green zone.  Perhaps the band wasn't placed properly, I do not know, but she's wishes she had gotten RNY or the Sleeve.

They had to take out her stomach? Not just the band?

Dr Roslin wrote it.  There's a sticky at the top of the forum posts that links it.  Read page 2 re: bands :)

Well I'm laying in the hospital right now after having my band removed and converted to a sleeve. My stomach had prolapsed ( was hanging down over the band on the back side. The stomach portion had adhered itself to my liver. So my surgery was another hour and a half to deal with the scar tissue on my liver....

Personally I'm glad I had my lap band since the sleeve was not an option when I had it 6 years ago. When it works its great but when it dosent.... I figure if i would od had it i probably would have been another hundred pounds heavier. Before the prolapse I had lost 95 lbs. however it slipped twice before this last time my tubing fractured so I had to have surgery to repair that and in the last six months my port had flipped.

Just a little info. And I consider myself to be in band compliance, no bread, no carbonation, small bites chew chew chew, no drinking before and after. Little or no alcohol, no NSAIDs so your guess is as good as mine on why my band failed.

Oh my! You mean it slipped twice, tubing broke, it prolapsed and it stuck to your liver? And all that in just a few years? Does that happen to other people? They never told me anything like that at the doctors office!

Not cute if you are just messing with us!