Lapband NOT working in some people?

I was on a Dr.'s website before and he said that the Lapband does not work on all people. Is this true? How is this physically possible if the stomach is made smaller by a physical band? Being someone who is seriously considering the Lapband option, this was kind of alarming to me and it was the first I've heard of it. Does anyone have any statistics that show just how many of the people that get the Lapband ultimately have it fail?

Hey justin, There producers of the lap band suggest that on average a person can expect to lose 50-60 percent of their excess weight. With this being said that means there are some (just like in any surgery) who will lose more then that..and then there are some that will lose less then that with the Lap band. The Lap Band requires strict adherence to diet and exercise, and really requires a total life make over to make it work. While there is some restriction, it does not prevent you from drinking too many calories, or eating chips, candy, etc..things that crush up easily. In rare cases people can't get to the right fill level, what lap banders refer to as their 'sweet spot' and in other rare cases the band slips or it causes the esophogus to expand and needs to be unfilled. While the lap band is relatively new...about 5 years old in the United States...restrictive band surgeries have been done in the US for over 25 years. They have a high fail rate because people who are super morbidly obese, or morbidly obese and have been that way for most of their lives have issues with food. I am not an advocate of the show or the program but on TLC there is a program about "Brookhaven Rehabilitation center" ..which is a JOKE...but thats another story....the one thing it does show accurately is that people (SMO and MO) can be addicted to food..and eat foods they shouldn't event hough they know it's hurting them. In my time on these forums, I've met some lapbanders who have been successful...and I've met others who've had to be revised to other weight loss surgeries. Many of the revisions on the "failed WLS" forums are lap banders needing to go to another surgery because it didn't work for them. My advice is to research research research..and figure out which surgery would be best for you. Scott

Justin: Just to support & add to many great points from Scottie, WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY is a tool. The band is a type of WLS, any tool can be defeated if not used properly. I will focus on the Band but know any wls can fail *this is not bash the band ok, I could bash any surgery w/ the right articles but for your help this is what i have on lapband ok!*, some are ore forgiving the Lapband is probably the least forgiving of any cheating or non-lifestyle changes. Meaning the band can slow digestion, reduce amount of food taken in at one time and possibly decrease hunger; but without a motivated and committed person using the band making lifestyle changes in diet and exercise yes people can and do not lose ANY wt, some have gained wt! Or many won't lose the potential wt or regain. Lapband has been around since June 5, 2001 in US: *In Europe 10-15 + yrs but remember we can not compare as we have different lifestles! http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/mda/docs/p000008.pdf History: http://www.lapband.com/lapband/lapbandhistory.do ############################################### Defeat the band by: ~Not going for fills to get perfectly adjusted ~Grazing on small snacky-meals all day long ~Eating high clorie dense fods, things like candy M&M seem to be a favorite, nuts, peanutbutter, chips, crackers, icecream ago right through easy many times ~Drinking calories such as lattees, milkshakes, soda, soups they slide right through and the calories add up ~Not exercising s part of a regular habit almost daily to preserve metabolism and len muscle mass and strengthen bnes etc ~Not doing the emotional work needed, or choosing to see WLS as magical and something that gives them a get out of obesity jail free card or an emotional bypass, we all have issues to some degree, many times they intensify when we do lose wt, they do not usually go away as we hope, the reality is life did not get perfect once we lost wt as we so wrongly think most of our lives.... ~Case reports in literature of some adjusting their on bands for surgically induced bulemia! Yikes unfill when u want to binge and fill when u want to purge.. not common but happens! Again any wls/tool can be defeated even highly malabsorbtive sch as distal RNY bypass of BPD/DS!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 BOOKS ABOUT LAPBAND: Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding : Achieving Permanent Weight Loss with Minimally Invasive Surgery (Paperback) by Jessie H. Ahroni Ph.D. A. R. N. P. $12.48 on amazon.com http://tinyurl.com/zfno9 ISBN: 0595311148 Paperback: 130 pages Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (May 31, 2004) Lap-Band for Life (Paperback) by Ariel Ortiz Lagardere MD FACS Price: $13.57 on amazon.com Paperback: 331 pages Publisher: LM Publishers (December 5, 2005) ISBN: 187913666X http://tinyurl.com/kkrou Sites w/ diets in PDF http://www.sabariatric.com/assets/forms/AGB_Diet_000.pdf http://www.cornellweightlosssurgery.org/pdf/diet_guid_lap_band.pdf http://www.lapbandforlife.com/postsurgerydiet.htm A site I have looked at before http://www.waynesmith.net/lapband/ A few groups/forums: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/UpstateNY-Bandsters/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/GraduateBandsters/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bandsters/ http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/surgtype-forums/LapBand/ ************************************************ RESEARCH and knowledge is powerful. Inamed has stats from 2001, 2003 brochures I have. They report the mjority in 2-3 yrs lose 33-38% excess wt with some losing 100% some not losing any and some gainng wt!!! THIS IS THEIR DATA: *EMAIL ME IF YOU WANT THE PDF FILE Gained over 5% EWL 2% 4 No Change ± 5% EWL 5% 9 Lost at least 25% EWL 62% 110 Lost at least 33% EWL 52% 93 Lost at least 50% EWL 22% 39 Lost at least 75% EWL 10% 18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Total # of patients 178 http://www.lapband.com/lapband/resultsandstatistics.do this shows 55% at 5 yrs! http://www.lapband.com/lapband/riskinformation.do http://www.obesity-online.com/Pat_and_docs_info/index.html check out al the links to the left... http://www.asbs.org/html/story/chapter5.html Complications also are an issue: *With any surgery but I am focusing on band here for your ???? *Lap band states/INAMED: In the United States clinical study, with 3-year follow-up reported, 88% of the 299 patients had one or more adverse events, ranging from, moderate, to severe. Nausea and vomiting (51%), gastroesophageal reflux (regurgitation) (34%), band slippage/pouch dilatation (24%) and stoma obstruction (stomachband outlet blockage) (14%) were the most common post-operative complications. In the study, 25% of the patients had their band systems removed, two-thirds of which were following adverse events. Esophageal dilatation or dysmotility (poor esophageal function****ured in 11% of patients, the long-term effects of which are currently unknown. Constipation, diarrhea and dysphagia (difficulty swallowing****urred in 9% of the patients. In 9% of the patients, a second surgery was needed to fix a problem with the band or initial surgery. In 9% of the patients, there was an additional procedure to fix a leaking or twisted access port. ________________________ Locally I have had folks w/ flipped ports, eroded bands into stomach lining needing removal, enlarged pouches/dilated esophagus from frequent vomiting, tubing leaking, tubing disconnection, tube strangulation of bowel and obstruction of bowel needing surgery, port infection, band rejection w/ high fevers over a yr until removed, insufficient wt loss (none to very little), band failure needing replacement with a VANGUARD 'big boy' larger 10CC band in two individuals vs original INAMED lapband. Some of the complications lessen w/ the experience of the surgeon so do not be anyones first 50-100 cases to minimize your risk!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Study Shows LapBand® Surgery May Have Long-Term Complications San Francisco, CA (PRWeb) October 21, 2006 -- Overall, 33.1% of patients had at least one long-term complication related to gastric banding. Long-term complications related to LapBand® included leaking, progressive food intolerance, and band erosion. *Email me for full articel if you want it is PDF I cannot cut/paste here. I am biased I chse the rny proximal bypass over the band for ME based on my etensive research. So my honest opinion and you now know I am biased. I do not feel the Lap band is the way to go for most people; especially those w/ higher BMI's over 45-50. I think in the long term it is going to fall out of vogue just as the VBG did (it failed to help those lose the wt needed and maintain & had too high compliatin rate....) It is a similar surgery except it is adjustable. It is common now as being touted as safe, reversible (like anyone would want it taken out after they lose wt!?)...I am pro WLS and am glad their are choices given the choice in 2002 for a BPD/DS locally and via my insurance I probably would of gone that route, don't get me worng the bypass is awesome but I feel longterm for ME the BPD/DS might of been a better choice to live a more normal life in the way of eating and with higher wt loss/maintanence..But the RNY gave me through motivation, edication 100% excess w/ 15# REGAN SO FAR AT ALMOST 5 YRS, I have beat the odds and made it past 50% excess which is typical. BUT it is only though my lifestyle that I maintain not the RNY at this oint its all about choices in the eotional work I do, the exercise near daily and the dilient food choices! Do you want to know more agaout failure check out the revision sites, I have seen many failed Lapbnds as well as failed rnys I have seen a failed VBG go to lapband then rny then BPD DS! I have seen rny to DS I have seen band over bypass, vbg to bypass etc. I also know OH has 2 different Revision Forum. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/amosforums/failed_wls_second_time_around http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/surgtype-forums/Revision/ Yahoo has: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WLSrevisionsupport/ So again choose isely so not to ned a revision or 2nd surgery where the risks and compliations are higher and sometimes u get one payment from insurance and thats it! Most of our lives we have set RIGID, UNREALISTIC WEIGHT LOSS GOALS for ourselves that are BOTH UNATTAINABLE and CHRONICALLY DISAPPOINTING and lead to DEVASTATION & the slippery slope of self-sabotage...Review the UNDERLYING lifestyle change such as exercise, food choices, self-awareness/monitoring, avoidance of emotional eating, adherence to living self responsibly in a CONSISTENT way that is the foundation to our long-term success. ANY WLS can help us chage our lifestyles, and any tool/wls we can cheat its enefit, the choice i ours. Be well in your decision and take as much time as u need! Talk to succesful bandsters AT LEAST 3 if not 5 years out see what they do and say to be successful! For that mater talk to 3-5 yr out bypassers Duoenal switchers and Gastric sleevers.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeve_gastrectomy *the last one may not e easy to find longer term postops yet.Te bypass hs been arond since 1967, more data, more statistics, more time to perfect technique and rduce complications, BPD/DS aroun since 1988 when Dr. Hess http://www.asbs.org/html/story/chapter3.html changed the BPD a little. http://www.duodenalswitch.com/; Dr. agner in NYC was 1st to do it LAP! http://wo-pub2.med.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/PublicA.woa/6/wa/viewService?servicesID= 635&website=wmc+weightloss&wosid=nF2NVDBh3tpHnSp2SzHvTg The question should be do u think u can change your life? Can you accept it will take an extraordinary amount of effort every minute of every day to be succesful, if you can say yes with confience and accept the responsibiity then WLS ma be for you, it is not the easy way out it is probably the mot challenging thing any of us has done and maybe the most difficult choice to make tak the risk of death during surgery to promote a healthier life. Focus on health not the scale it helps as well. [email protected] Take Care, Jamie Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh 320/163 5'9'' (lost 45 before Surgery) Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King "Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"

Hiya Justin, I'm not quite 2 weeks out from my surgery. I am a Bander. At 9 days out, I was down 12 pounds. (29 total) I can assure you, I will lose the weight I need to in order to hit my goal! It's all individual. I had a pretty low BMI going into surgery, so maybe that will be a plus for me. If I see that I'm not losing or the doc says I'm not losing the way I should be, I can assure you, having put myself through the whole WLS process, I WILL kick it in and up my exercise and decrease my calories. Please don't assume that because the stats say what they do, that they're accurate! Where are they getting that 50-60%? How many people have they polled? If that is the case, I would assume that the Lap band itself is a FAILURE. A passing grade is 65! So, I refuse 1.) to believe the stats and 2.) to believe that the Lap band doesn't work if properly used. ps- I work with a RNY patient, 3 years out. Sadly, she has gained 60 pounds back

pss- As Jamie acknowledges, she is biased on this matter. Please look into the positive and negatives on ALL procedures, not just the Lap Band. I do believe they all have a wide range of negatives! But in my estimation, nothing is as negative as the poor health many face being overweight. Do what's best for you and your life

I am a bander and I am super freak girl motivated and not looking at negatives. You can find negatives in ALL WLS surgeries and positives. For me I am going to do this because I can. I hate being told that I cannot do something. I am justthat way. I believe in myself and prior to surgery I spent THREE long years reading and researching and then JAnuary of this year it hit me...HOLY SHAZAM I am ready for the surgery! Got my stuff in order and had it April 24th. I am down about 25 before surgery and now according to my scale as of this morning 26 pounds since surgery. I am drinking and eating fine. I just use a small plate...chew my food...I do not slam it in...I taste it. I do not over eat and I have not even my first sill yet. It is your choice. But do not let FEAR motivate you to NOT do the WLS, either one. You HAVE to do the research and decide what is best for you.

Chelle is my twin, Chelle is my twin! LOL Love ya girl!!!

Thank you all for the great posts and info! Its a lot to think about clearly. I was leaning more towards the band, but after being on another Dr.'s website I am rethinking my position because his site said that while patients will lose 50%-60% of their excess weight with the band, patients who have RNY will lose 66%-100% of their excess weight. I wonder just how difficult this decision will be for me as to what procedure to go with... The Lap Band definitely seems less "scary," while RNY seems like a living autopsy to me.

Yes we all have some bias due to our personal preference and choice of tool we chose for ourselves. Even different surgeons have biases on the surgeries they perform or do not; for instance some still perform the VBG even after much of the bariatric community has deemed this surgery long-term to not withstand wt loss maintenance and that it carries too many complications. I try to report accurate and documented data, not generalities or hearsay. I always try to either provide articles or links as much as possible. Most of us all start out with the determination and mindset to succeed having just made the decision to risk our lives to be healthier, sadly most of the people who do not lose well or regain are those same people saying preop/as newbies "THAT will never be ME"! Everyone thinks they will be different, that 'terminal uniqueness' that is spoken about in the 12 step programs. Use stats as guides for typical but not for hard and fast results, realistically most lose what they show, some more some less, INAMED the compny who makes the lapband themselves post 33-38% excess wt loss is typical for the majority, use it as guide if u lose that u r successful if more that is a bonus! try not o st a goal so high it is not attainable, focus on healthy lifestyle and not the scale u I believe we have won w just that! If we could overcome the just eat healthier and exercise more we wouldn't need the tool, xcept so many falsely believe having surgery will make them change nope t won't, only you can make you change... wt loss surgery is for many a 1-2 yr failed diet sadly, because they for whatever reason do not use the honeymoon to change, have deep seated core emotional issues they do not manage that lead to sabotage or simply think everything in their lives will get better or be different once they are thin. Reality is that doesn't happen....As I suggest research and research some more. Talk to people again 3-5 yrs at least out of surgery to know what life typically is like, that is when the newness fades and the issues creep in for many, see what is happening, the issues are the regain or emotions or the complications. Ask also about the successes and how they embraced the tool. Learn from others what to do and not to do. Posing these questions here will only help you in your success! And if you want to know about the good, bad and ugly on the RNY I have that to share personal and documented complications, challenges and risks, as well statistics. I have some on BPD/DS as well, but less as it's been around since 1988 only the RNY has more data as it began in 1967 I think. REMEMBER THOSE OVER 1 YR OUT FADE WAY AS THIS SEEMS TO BE THE BEST TIME OF THEIR LIVES, AND THEN THEY DO NOT REAPPEAR SADLY DUE TO SHAME OF REGAIN, tracking them don is challenging but not possible online support u can find them... ok done beating the dead horse, stepping off my soapbox.... JAMIE

Justin, you might want to check out lapbandtalk.com. Many people are quite successful; others are not. As with all WLS, it is a tool that you have to use properly. P.S. Before I had to have to have my band removed due to an unrelated condition, I would NEVER have considered RNY. Now I am praying for ins. co. approval. I would have it tonight if I could. I do not look at it as being cut open for an autopsy; Dr. Garber is confident he will be able to be to use the very same keyhole insisions that were used to place my band to remove it and perform the RNY. Good luck with your decision. Karen