ASMBS: Gastric Banding Gets Low Marks

Cywes and colleagues reviewed medical records of 402 obese adolescents they have treated since 2005 using the laparoscopic weight-loss procedure.

The medical records contained one-year follow-up data on 96% of the patients, including 38 of 48 patients followed for four years.

Late complications included band slippage in one patient whose BMI had declined to 21 kg/m², three erosions, two band removals, 11 gastroesophageal pouches, four breaks in tubing, two port flips, one port infection, 13 cases of port downsizing associated with BMI <22, and 19 pregnancies, only three of which were planned. No patient died.

So if the "late complications" we in the 48 patients that were tracked past year one they seem pretty severe. 1 slip, 3 erosions, 2 removals??

You also have to keep in mind that 16 & 17 year olds haven't had the yo-yo diet history of most 35 year olds so their metabolisms aren't shot to hell. The band may be a great short term solution for the young.

As someone who had a band, and then had RNY, I will VERY happily bash the band. I think it's terrible surgery and doesn't work, and I wouldn't recommend it to my dog!

After two slips, erosion, losing all the enamel on my teeth, and not losing the weight after the slips, I think this is dangerous surgery that is heavily marketed by companies wanting to make lots of money.

Lapband broke my heart, and almost cost me my life. When my doctor went to do my revision, my band had started to disintigrate and was in pieces embedded in my stomach wall. Had one perforated (and it could have at any time), I would have been looking a peritonitis and death.

I had a revision in 2007 and have lost all my weight. I think lapband is a giant scam. It's terrible surgery. Some of the european countries are no longer funding it at all, and a lot of physicians have stopped offering it. Some say they don't want to do it, but have to because so many people want it after seeing all the false advertising about it.

So - I'm speaking up and very strongly bashing lapband.

Having had a similar experience and also having seen it happen to many, many other people, I'm with you! 

It hurts me to see all the people who are being misled by the promises of the lapband, knowing how untrue they are.

It's a great idea... IF your body parts are made of plastic or some other non-eroding material! Most peoples' stomachs aren't made to withstand something in constant contact with it.

I'm sorry for all you went through. I went through Hell, myself.

Well...I'm five years post ..almost, and I still have my original band and many other still do too, we are just out healthy and complication free and don't have time to visit the boards much. Many people DO NOT KNOW how to use their bands, it takes good insurance and money get keep up with NEEDED fills and unfills at least in the first 2 years for maximum weight loss.

A lot of people bash the band but for many it has been the best thing since sliced bread...many people are not educated enough to use the band effectively...IT DOES NOTHING for weight loss and many people really do not understand this very clearly...but what it does do is greatly limit how much you can eat at one time, to about a pixie cup of food and THAT IS THE TOOL, it does NO magic tricks or make you ill, UNLESS YOU ABUSE IT and KEEP IT WAY  TOO TIGHT above the recommended fill capacity and then it can be a nightmare with unnecessary complications which are still minimal compared to complicationS of RNY or DS, but again some people get the band that NEEDED MORE aggressive approaches to lose weight such as RNY, or DS, the band is not for everyone that is why they have different choices where people can pick the surgery they believe may benefit them the most.

I chose the band because I did not want to risk being in and out the hospital...and *knock on wood* it has been 5 years and I have NEVER had a complication nor been hospitalized with my band...I KNEW it would take more effort with the band..it was a trade off for me I would rather walk a few extra laps than to risk repeated hospitalizations and stay healthy..all I needed was a little help and the band has provided that to me for 5 years. 

"I chose the band because I did not want to risk being in and out the hospital"

1. All surgeries create a risk of being in and out of the hospital.

2. All of that time spent going to the doctor to get fills for the first 2 years might be considered being in and out of the hospital.

3.  I'm not sure I would call band slippage and/or the band embedding itself into the stomach a "minimal" complication.

That said, congratulations on your success! :-)

MoLawdED...thanks for your reply...but you know we bandsters never create "drama" on these boards..we just simply defend our decisions....that said....even with the most dreaded complication as band erosion -- IT NEVER CAUSES DEATH, unlike RNY does with deadly complications -- MANY don't even experience symptoms with band erosion-- google band erosion to read the facts.....the only symptoms that we long term bandsters need to watch for is lost of restriction which may indicate a possible erosion and it is NEVER life threatening or an emergency and they are VERY VERY RARE...most can EVEN get a new band, many HAVE!  You have people that post here that are bitter and have an enormous financial loss attributed with their band removals.....

I understand wanting to defend your surgical choice.

However, I must correct you on something important.  You state several times in your post that the band "never" causes death, but this is not true:

The NY Post reported on May 30 that the families of two women are suing one lap-band manufacturer and the hospitals after their band-related deaths.  I'm not sure how they died, but it appears that their deaths were at least related to the band, if not caused by it.  This would be a similar situation to other WLS surgeries, where often people die not as a direct result of the surgery, but because of something that happened after the surgery that was not properly addressed.

It may be true that the band has a lower rate of post-op complications than other WLS surgeries, but ALL of these surgeries has great risks - including death.  Each also has the potential of great rewards, though some seem to produce the greatest rewards more often than others. Each individual has to weigh whether they are willing to sacrifice some of the rewards of some WLS in order to have the lower risks of other WLS.

Anytime someone goes under the knife there are risks of death, UNRELATED to the cause..yes there have been a few people that died that had the band...but their deaths were UNRELATED to the band itself...one guy died of a botched job done by his surgeon with poor sterilizations...one lady died right after surgery due to internal bleeding...but these people probably would have died regardless of which surgery they choose...

I have yet in my five years to read an article of a lap band death due to band slippage or erosion's....these would be CLEARLY band related...and I DO agree we have to weigh whether or not we would take on a higher risk to lose weight, and when I did my research and interviewed surgeons 5 years ago....I asked if they could guarantee that I would not dump forever or risk deadly complications they could not guarantee that this would not happen to me...so the risk of my overall good health only fat..lol, did not outweigh me getting RNY or DS.....that is why there is different surgical options available to those who need different approaches to weight loss surgery. thanks for your input.

You know what is telling about the cheerleaders for banding, here is an example such as yesterday. Maria F cross posted Beth's link on the band boards. NO comments, no opinions, nothing. Just cross linked the post. This response is telling;



sfnativewm
Lap Band (11/28/07)
Member Since: 05/10/07
[Latest Posts]
Post Date: 6/27/10 6:40 pm
I find that it is important to help and support anyone who goes through the weightloss surgery process. BASHING anyone's surgery and hope to finally lose weight to me is just plain awful and hopefully I never forget all that I have gone through to lose weigh and not be mean and judgemental!
~Ann~
8cc's/ 10cc band
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

when i refer to band cheerleaders i'm not referring to people happy with their band, i'm referring to those who try to hide truth, hide stats, and fool newbies for some sick and twisted need to justify their own banding decisions. to flat out explain that posting an ASMBS study is bashing the band... this is without excuse. newbies deserve truth and honesty and often times, they do not get this. if any of us dares to say anything on the MB then we get BS and nonsense such as this;

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband/4197587/Surgery-Wars-SERENITY-NOW/

I think all of it is a hot mess. I think the band is a very weird tool. It is so fickle and the results don’t seem to be consistent or measurable. While many do fail with the band, there is also a great number who succeed with the band. But it is sooo weird. It seems to be kind of hit and miss. It seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why 2 compliant lap-band patients can have two totally different results. It’s like one will do very well and the other will have a horrible time. It’s almost a toss up.

I think some of the perceived band-bashing may come in b/c folks who have chosen another WLS, for the life of them, can't understand why anyone would choose the band after reading articles like the one posted above.  It’s like "I know they (those interested in lap-band) read the same articles, stats, facts, and studies that I dis...maybe I missed something.  " I know for me, I was originally scheduled to have lap-band, but after reading articles like the one posted above and hearing stories from other lap-banders, I changed my mind. It was a no-brainer for me.

Overall, it is not for us to understand why someone chose a particular WLS. It is a very individual choice. Different people can tolerate different things.

Even though many patients, studies, stats, and facts seem to point to the lap-band being this horrible device, what is the alternative? There are many people who need WLS, but truly do not want to have their stomachs cut or their intestines re-routed. What are these people to do? Are they to get no surgery at all and continue to watch their health decline or do they take a chance and get the lap-band and hope it works? I don’t know what the answer is, but I have hopes that the lap-band system can be better perfected, because in the end it is still an option for those who don’t want to be cut or have their intestines re-routed.

BTW, I don’t see how posting stats and facts equals band-bashing and inciting a surgery war. All the WLS have pros, cons, risks, and complications. It is what it is.