Realize vs LapBand

what warranty is that? The only warranty is the Realzie band has less weight loss than the lapband AP.

Realize band= 43% exl at 3 years
Lapband AP = 62% weight  in 12 months

The only thing I recommend for someone that is torn between the two brands is to go to both websites, as well as get all the info you can from your surgeon about both of them.  Realize band is www.realizeband.com and Lap Band is www.lapband.com .  Take everything you read on here or any other support websites with a grain of salt.  People can hear something, misunderstand it and post incorrect info on here.

BTW - If you read the small print in the Realize band book it says that a MEAN of 228 patients lost 43% of their excess weight in 36 months.  Mean is defined as the arithmetic average; also called the arithmetic mean.  While in the Lap Band book it says that at 3 years the majority of patients lost at least 25% of their excess weight (62% or 110 of the patients they studied).  The second best was at least 33% and that had 52% of their patients or 93 total people.  So some people lost more and others lost less, the bottom line is that it is up to YOU.  The band is a tool (regardless of brand) and how much weight you lose depends on how much you work with your band as well as other outside factors (such as if you are diabetic, how much weight you actually have to lose, and if you have a BMI over 50, etc...). 

I have heard many doctors say that there isn't one band that is better than the other.  If there were, all the doctors would stop using the "bad one" and the "good one".  I say pick what feels right to you.  I am going with the Realize band because of the support program on-line and I was really impressed with all the information they had.  But again, that is only MY opinion, take it for what it's worth.

...And I am stepping off of my soap box now... 

Just wanted to make a note on what I was told by MY surgeon.  Doesnt mean its any better.  He didnt say its better or not, he is simply just using it now.  I really think, that perhaps SURGEONS need to be educated on statistics before they tell us and then we go and blog about "what weve been told." 

I was told the following: 

Less chance of erosion
Its new (simply put)
Yes, it is empty when placed until your first follow up (mine was 1 month)

Thats all I was told.

I think he just uses it now.
plus they have an interactive website, once your out of surgery you can (lol) register your band, kinda like a VIN#.

But who the heck knows really!

hugs
bEtsy

Not to mention, the fact still remains.

they both have restriction.  Which I like.  To me personally, a band is a band.

Im sure most of you have seen this, but I just came upon it myself.....its interesting...I found it here on OH.


The Bands

Both adjustable gastric bands work by creating two stomach pouches, a small upper one and a large lower one. The patient feels full more quickly because the upper pouch doesn’t leave as much room for food. In laparoscopic or “closed” surgery, the band is wrapped around the stomach like a belt, and a tiny tube leads from the band to a port that is implanted on the abdominal wall. After surgery, the doctor can adjust the tightness of the band by injecting saline into the port through the tube and into the band, thereby inflating the band so that it constricts a tiny amount.

Lap-band AP is the new-and-improved version of the Lap-band most WLS patients have heard of. Developed by Allergan, the Lap-band AP is wider than its predecessor and features something Allergan calls “360° Omniform technology,” which allows inflation around the entire inside of the band through seven soft pre-curved pillows. Allergan says that the 360° technology was originally suggested by physicians: “The AP was developed on surgeon feedback over many years. We evolved our expertise and our device to be what they wanted it to be.” The Lap-band AP also has a new unlocking mechanism allowing the surgeon to reposition the band during surgery, or even after, should the band slip.

Enter the Realize band. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, recently purchased the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band, which has been used outside of the U.S. for more than 20 years. They branded it as the Realize band for the U.S. market. The Realize band received FDA approval in September 2007 and is very similar to the Swedish band introduced in 1996. It features one continuous pillow that creates a cushion all the way around the stomach, and although the band is not designed to be unlocked, it is possible to unlock it for revisions, according to Dr. Jon Schram, a proctor for the Realize band who has placed hundreds of adjustable gastric bands and uses both Lap-band and Realize bands in his Michigan practice.

Comparing Technicalities

Studies comparing the two newest bands side by side have yet to be published, and without head-to-head comparisons of the Lap-band AP and the Realize band, it is too early to draw conclusions about differences between their long-term success rates. Comparing separate studies has shown equivalent results with the Realize band and older Lap-bands.

Dr. Sunil Bhoyrul, an attending surgeon at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla and Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, California, has used both Lap-bands and Realize bands for a long time. Dr. Bhoyrul says that, in his opinion, the best early results appear to be with the AP band: “The 360° technology and wider profile have given us the best short-term weight loss results we’ve ever seen.” The design differences in the saline cushions—the seven separate pillows in the Lap-band AP as opposed to the single continuous pillow of the Realize band—could prove to be important. Currently, Allergan suggests that the individual sections in the AP band minimize the potential for leaks due to unwanted creases or folds. The Realize band, on the other hand, has been marketed as a softer, lower-pressure band. Dr. Schram says that the Realize band seems to show improved food tolerance in his patients. Questions about long-term results, food tolerance and other aspects of band performance mean that long-term and comparative study results will be eagerly awaited.

Great information.