Many clinicians recommend this procedure for older individual (60-65 years old) who would otherwise not be a candidate for other kinds of surgical intervention.
This procedure, which was approved in the U.S. in June 2001, is popular & is done by the Laparoscopic technique(minimally invasive, key hole surgery) and therefore recovery time is only a few days. The procedure includes an adjustable band being placed around the upper portion of the stomach, essentially resulting in a much smaller stomach. This restricts the amount of food that can be eaten, similar to the sleeve surgery.

The European literature (where the procedure has been performed for a longer period of time) shows that weight loss is similar to that seen with sleeve surgery.

Surgical Results, Complications, and Nutritional Deficiencies

At 7 years: < 50% of excess body weight lost

At 9 years: < 40 % of excess body weight lost

Major Late Complications Related to this Surgical Procedure

Medical Complications of this Procedure Include: Band slippage, Erosion of the band into the stomach, Dilation of the esophagus & infections (many of which require removal of the device).

Band eroding into the stomach: 3.3%

Slippage: 6.5 %

Leakage: 9.8%

Major reapportion: 24.4%

Nutritional Deficiencies from Gastric Banding:

Rarely significant nutritional deficiencies from the surgery itself occur

Thiamine deficiency if persistent vomiting occurs

Occasional protein deficiency from “induced ” dietary changes