Lap Band Weight Loss Surgery

How Successful Is Lap Band Weight Loss Surgery?

In many countries lap band weight loss surgery was seized upon when it was first introduced about ten years ago and it is rapidly replacing other traditional forms of weight loss surgery.

In the United States lap band surgery did not receive FDA approval until the summer of 2001 and so it is still a little early to say just how well it is going to be received here, although the early indications are that it will prove to be extremely popular.

At this early stage in the life of lap band weight loss surgery the statistics are looking pretty good, which has got to be good news for the estimated 15 million Americans who are now not simply a bit overweight or even obese but are classed today as being severely, or morbidly, obese.

Lap band surgery compares favorably with other forms of surgery in terms of weight loss and benefits in particular from producing fewer complications, both during and after surgery, with complications proving less serious than in other forms of weight loss surgery. The success of lap band surgery is also being seen in terms of the reduction of conditions associated with obesity such as hypertension, type II diabetes and sleep apnea.

Overall patients are seeing shorter hospital stays, with an overnight stay for lap band surgery compared to 2 to 3 days in hospital for laparoscopic Roux-en-Y surgery and 3 to 4 days in hospital for open Roux-en-Y surgery. Additionally, post-operative recovery time is substantially reduced with lap band patients returning to their normal activities within about a week compared to 2 to 3 weeks in the case of Roux-en-Y patients.

Because lap band weight loss surgery is a purely restrictive form of surgery early post-operative weight loss is less dramatic than that seen in open or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y patients, but it is nevertheless still substantial and, over the longer term, patients are achieving similar weight loss.

Even at this early stage there are several studies available that give a good indication of just how successful lap band weight loss surgery is. In one early study involving 63 patients from the United States excess weight loss of 53% was recorded after 3 years, while in another study from Australia over a similar period excess weigh loss as high as 68% was reported.

Of course, although attention is naturally focused on weight loss when assessing whether or not a procedure is successful, this should not be used as the only gauge of success. It is very easy to assume that surgery produces a 57% weight loss must be more successful than surgery that produces a 47% weight loss, but this is not necessarily the case.

The real question is whether or not patients lose the weight that they want to lose and, at the same time, see an improvement in their overall state of health, their life expectancy and their quality of life. The success of lap band weight loss surgery must therefore be measured in terms of the overall benefit that it delivers to its patients and it is still too early to fully assess its success in these terms.

Lap band weight loss surgery is one of the least invasive forms of weight loss surgery and involves the shortest period of hospitalization and the fastest recovery time. It is also the only form of surgery currently available that is adjustable and the simplest form of surgery to reverse should this prove to be necessary. Perhaps most important of all, it avoids many of the problems associated with traditional gastric bypass surgery, such as stomach stapling and bypassing the digestive system, which makes it a particularly safe form of surgery.

After only ten years (five years in the case of the United States) it is still too early to say just how successful lap band weight loss surgery is going to be. Nevertheless, based upon the reports of studies carried out so far, it would seem that lap band weight loss surgery is here to stay and may well follow the example seen in countries such as Australia where it is now the preferred form of weight loss surgery.