VGB or lapband???

I was under the impression that vgb was the same thing as lapband. Is it? What is the differnce between the two? Which one is better? Which one has less complications and better long term affects? What are the restrictions? I'm confused. Lez

Big difference as I understand it, the main one being that the vgb is not adjustable.

I had the exact question today!! The Dr. who I contacted said that my insurance does not do Lap Band but does the bypass. Go figure, as I would rather have what Paige has and now I'm trying to read more about the bypass as I wasn't interested in it. I hate the idea of more complications. But I know I do need it and qualify for it. I'm very intimidated by this type of surgery and quick weight loss. My main concern if I get down to it though is this: With such quick weight loss, it seems that everyone needs to have plastic surgery for skin. That is a very expensive and painful process. I don't know if I could aford to do that. When is that necessary? I have about a 100 pounds to lose, and I worry about that one aspect. Stupid I know. But it plays in my mind.

Hi Leslie, Barbara nailed it. The lapband can be adjusted so that the food passes through the pouch more slowly or it can be adjusted so that you can eat more like in the case of pregnancy. Also the band can be removed if necessary. It is more difficult to reverse the VBG but I understand it is possible. It is hard to say which procedure is "better" because my only experience is the with the VBG and most doctors have their own opinions, but not many studies have been done to compare different procedures if any. Also the long term results are not frequently measured because the lapband is a newer procedure. basically u can find statistics that say this WLS is better than that WLS but I believe it is important to research all the options and select the one that best suits your needs. I hope this helps And if you have any questions please feel free to email me directly! Hugs, Sara 356/275/175

My insurance would not cover lapband because they still consider it experimental. As I understand it there has been good success in Europe, but not as well here. I know someone that got the lapband in November and by January had only lost 10 pounds because they were able to eat a lot. There were additional fills done and she was starting to feel like it was working like it should. I had VBG and don't regret it for a minute. No matter what you choose though please know it is a personal discipline and if you don't exercise (I walk) you won't have as good of success no matter what you do. Best of luck with your decision. Natalie 281/194/140/125

Leslie, I also had this question. I decided on the lap band, and did so mainly because of it's reversibility. The finality of the VGB or RNY steered me away from it, but if my insurance would have only covered one of them, I may have had to reconsider. I was afraid I would stretch my pouch, and then nothing could be done to un-do that. However, the lap band program encourages you to really take control of your eating patterns and they stress that only you can get the weight off, and the band is just a tool. I have lost 27 pounds since I first went into the surgeon's office on 1-4-05, but most of that was on the pre-op diet (only 5.5 pounds since). I go for my first band fill today, and I will see if that gets me loosing better. The lap band is kind of slow to get started for some, but my surgeon's patients loose an average of 75lbs in the first year. The 3 year studies on comparrison between the 3 surgeries show the lap band to have the same long term outcome, mainly because the RNY and VGB patienets loose fast, but they have a correction in their weight a couple of years out on average, and we all end up the same. The studies in the US contain data from people with early surgeries who were not screened well, and a lot of them did not do the correct follow up proceedures- excercise, support, and regular fills and follow up appointments-like they should have. I hope this helps you with your decision.

The lap-band is the most current generation of restrictive-only WLS procedures, and it was designed to address some of the issues with the VBG. Adjustability is a big factor, and it's also less invasive. Regain is less of an issue and overall complication rate is lower. Very few surgeons are performing the VBG anymore. Nancy 394/278/180

Like all weight loss surgery there have been improvements and modifications on the vbg including adding a sleeve gastectomy in some cases which further increases weight loss this procedure is also great as a first step weight loss procedure many surgeons are transecting the stiches as they go which cuts down on staple line disruption a common problem in all wls but rampant in the old stomache stapling procedure that vbg is based off of. The bottom line is that as more people opt for this very profitable surgery newer and sometimes better procedures are going to pop up all the time as well as improvements on existing surgeries. research reseach research ask questions talk to everyone that you can. make the best choice for you, regardless of insurance, spouse, parent, or the astrology section in the daily paper. lol