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Are You A Suitable Candidate For Gastric Lap Banding?

by

Don Saunders

There are a number of different forms of obesity surgery available now including the quite new surgical procedure of gastric lap banding which is rising in popularity and is rapidly becoming the favored choice for many morbidly obese individuals. But would you be a suitable candidate for gastric lap banding?

In answering this question we will begin by assuming that you are suitable for obesity surgery generally and that your only concern therefore is whether or not you should be thinking about lap banding. In very simple terms this means that you are over 18, are morbidly obese with a body mass index (BMI) of over 40 (or over 35 with one or more co-morbid conditions) and that you have already tried traditional weight loss methods (including possible drug treatment) without any success.

It is often thought that individuals having weight loss surgery are simply overweight and it is all too easy to forget that individuals who are extremely overweight are usually suffering from several other conditions, some of which arise out of the fact that they are overweight. It is the presence of these other conditions which frequently creates a hurdle when it comes to choosing between different forms of surgery.

Because gastric lap banding is a form of restrictive surgery in which the stomach is physically reduced in size to limit the quantity of food which can be passed through the stomach and digestive system, it follows that this form of surgery is unlikely to be suitable if your esophagus, stomach or intestine are abnormal. Such abnormality might be inherited or acquired and a common difficulty seen is a narrowing at some point along the digestive tract.

Problems within the esophagus or stomach that might lead to bleeding (like esophageal or gastric varices ? a dilated vein) would also make gastric lap band surgery impractical, as would difficulties at the location where the band is to be placed around the stomach, like an injury, scarring or gastric perforation.

Problems may also arise if you are suffering from any form of inflammation or inflammatory disease within the gastrointestinal tract such as esophagitis, ulcers or Crohn’s disease.

Finally, gastric lap band surgery is not suitable for pregnant women or where pregnancy is being considered. If a woman becomes pregnant following gastric lap band surgery it is possible to deflate the band to allow for the higher nutritional requirement however, where deflating the band does not do the trick, the band might need to be removed.

One benefit of the gastric lap banding system is that the operation is reversible and, if it becomes necessary, the band can be removed and the stomach returned to its original state. This can however also be a disadvantage of the system. Motivation is the key to any form of obesity surgery but becomes a particular issue when it comes to gastric lap band surgery. If you have any doubt about how determined you are to succeed then this form of surgery may not be a suitable choice for you.

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