Stomach Banding Surgery: An Alternative to Gastric Bypass?

Obese teenagers may lose weight after a lap band surgery, according to a recent study from the NYU Medical Center. The surgery involves placing a silicon ring around the upper part of the stomach and so a smaller stomach is created. That makes people eat less and feel fuller.

During the surgery, a port connected to the ring is placed underneath the skin. Through the port, the ring can be loosed or made tighter by the doctor. This procedure is adjustable, reversible, it may be performed within an hour, and doesn`t require the cutting of the gastrointestinal tract.

The study involved fifty-three obese teenagers with ages between thirteen and seventeen who have been obese for at least five years and suffered of high blood pressure, sleep apnea, or diabetes. Before the surgery, they unsuccessfully tried to lose weight by following diets and exercise programs under medical supervision.

Lap band surgery is safer and more effective than gastric bypass, according to Dr. Evan Nadler, Director of Pediatric Minimally Invasive Surgery and lead author of the study. The bypass procedure has serious risks and side effects while the band procedure takes to the same weight loss without so many risks, says Nadler.

The side effects registered after a bypass procedure are: severe nutritional deficiency, intestines blockage, intestinal leaking, or intestinal bleeding. People sometimes regain weight after a gastric bypass surgery, but none of the subjects experienced that after the band surgery, says Nadler.

Each teenager lost about fifty percent of the excess weight in a period of twelve to eighteen months after the surgery, according to the study. The complications that teenagers suffered were significantly less severe compared to the side effects of gastric bypass procedure and none required hospital readmission.

Two people had hiatal hernias, two suffered a band slippage, and another had a wound infection. A few teenagers needed vitamin supplementation because of the iron deficiency they had. Some people also experienced a mild hair loss.

The study was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and published the Journal of Pediatric Surgery. For now, the lap band device is approved only for adults.