Laparoscopic gastric banding is surgery to help with weight loss. The surgeon places a band around the upper part of your stomach to create a small pouch to hold food. The band limits the amount of food you can eat by making you feel full after eating small amounts of food.

After surgery, your doctor can adjust the band to make food pass more slowly or quickly through your stomach.

Weight-loss surgery may be an option if you are severely obese and have not been able to lose weight through diet and exercise.

Laparoscopic gastric banding is not a “quick fix” for obesity. It will greatly change your lifestyle. You must diet and exercise after this surgery. If you do not, you may have complications or poor weight loss.

People who have this surgery should be mentally stable and not be dependent on alcohol or illegal drugs.

Doctors often use the following body mass index (BMI) measures to identify patients who may be most likely to benefit from weight-loss surgery. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 25.

THIS PROCEDURE MAY BE RECOMMENDED FOR YOU IF YOU HAVE

• A (BMI) of 40 or more. This usually means that men are 100 pounds overweight and women are 80 pounds over their ideal weight.
• A BMI of 35 or more and a serious medical condition that might improve with weight loss. Some of these conditions are sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

During LAP Band

During this procedure, a small band made of silicone is placed around the upper part of the stomach. This creates a small pouch so that the area where food enters the stomach is small.  Patients who have had this kind of surgery feel full after eating small amounts.  The size of the opening between the upper part of the stomach and the lower part can be controlled by adding saline through a small port that is placed under the skin. Patients must closely follow a special diet to lose weight.

After LAP Band

After surgery, you will be required to follow a strict diet and significant lifestyle changes. For approximately 3 weeks, you will need to eat foods in a liquid or pureed state.  During this stage, all of the food you eat should be the consistency of thin, smooth, applesauce. You will need to eat 3-4 times a day. Each meal should be 2-4 oz (1/4 -1/2 cup of food).

After the third week, you may advance to semi-solid, or soft food. During this time you will need to eat 3-4 times a day. Each meal should be 4-6oz (1/2 -3/4 cup of food). Care should be taken not to snack or graze between these meals.  About 10 weeks after surgery, you may advance to low-fat solid foods.  Gradually introduce new foods.  After this surgery, dry meats can be difficult to swallow therefore make sure they are very moist.  You may also have trouble tolerating bread. It is important to chew all foods well prior to swallowing.

Read About Post Op Diet Phases