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The LAP_BAND® System Overview

The LAP-BAND® System consists of an adjustable lap band designed to help you lose excess body weight, improve weight-related health conditions and enhance quality of life. The laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding reduces the stomach capacity and restricts the amount of food that can be consumed at one time. The LAP-BAND® System procedure, or laparoscopic gastric banding surgery, does not require stomach cutting and stapling or gastrointestinal re-routing to bypass normal digestion. The LAP-BAND® System is the only reversible and adjustable gastric band surgery available in the United States and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The name “LAP-BAND” comes from the surgical technique used, laparoscopic, and the name of the implanted medical device, gastric band. The LAP-BAND® System is a silicone ring designed to be placed around the upper part of the stomach and filled with saline on its inner surface. This creates a new, smaller stomach pouch that can hold only a small amount of food, so the food storage area in the stomach is reduced. The laparoscopic band also controls the stoma (stomach outlet) between the new upper pouch and the lower part of the stomach. When the stomach is smaller, you feel full faster, while the food moves more slowly between your upper and lower stomach as it is digested. As a result, you eat less and lose weight.

If you are in Texas and looking for a doctor to perform gastric banding surgery, you have found one of the top in the country. Dr. Spivak has extensive experience in the LAP-BAND procedure having performed thousands of the surgeries in Houston, Texas and other areas. With this type of experience, you can rest assured that you are in good hands when he is performing the surgery on you or one of your loved ones. Dr. Spivak was one of the original surgeons to bring the lap-band procedure to the United States and actually worked with the FDA to get it approved in this country.

Dr. Spivak uses laparoscopic techniques (making tiny incisions rather than a large incision and inserting long-shafted instruments through “ports”), to wrap the LAP-BAND® System around the patient’s stomach. Dr. Spivak then passes a narrow camera through another port so he can view the operative site on a nearby video monitor. Like a wristwatch, the band is fastened around the upper stomach to create the new stomach pouch that limits and controls the amount of food you eat. The band is then locked securely in a ring around the stomach. Dr. Spivak was one of the investigators in the FDA clinical trials of the LAP-BAND system in the US, and has performed thousands of Lap-Band procedures in Houston, Texas.

Since there is no stomach cutting, stapling, or gastrointestinal re-routing involved in the LAP-BAND® System procedure, it is considered the safest, least invasive, and least traumatic of all weight-loss surgeries. The laparoscopic approach to the surgery also has the advantages of reduced post-operative pain, shortened hospital stay, and quicker recovery. If for any reason the LAP-BAND® System needs to be removed, the stomach generally returns to its original form.

Adjustable Weight Loss
Once placed around the stomach, tubing connects the LAP-BAND® to an access port fixed beneath the skin of your abdomen. This allows the surgeon to change the stoma (stomach outlet) size by adding or subtracting saline, or salt water, inside the inner balloon through the access port. This adjustment process helps determine the rate of weight loss. If the band is too loose and weight loss is inadequate, adding more saline can reduce the size of the stoma to further restrict the amount of food that can move through it. If the band is too tight, the surgeon will remove some saline to loosen the band and reduce the amount of restriction.

The diameter of the band can be modified to meet your individual needs, which can change as you lose weight. For example, pregnant patients can expand their band to accommodate a growing fetus, while patients who aren’t experiencing significant weight loss can have their bands tightened. The LAP-BAND® System is also the only adjustable weight-loss surgery available in the United States to help maintain restriction and keep the weight off long-term.

REALIZE™ Personal Banding Solution
Another gastric banding system is the REALIZE Personal Banding Solution. The REALIZE Band works similarly to the LAP-BAND, dividing the stomach into two parts and making you feel fuller sooner. The adjustable REALIZE Band, a strong, flexible silicone structure made entirely of biocompatible materials, is implanted using the laparoscopic technique, making the procedure minimally invasive.

The LAP-BAND® System Advantages at a Glance

Minimal Trauma

Least invasive surgical option
No intestinal re-routing
No cutting or stapling of the stomach wall or bowel
Small incisions and minimal scarring
Reduced patient pain, length of hospital stay, and recovery period

Fewer Risks and Side Effects

Significantly lower mortality risk compared to other weight-loss surgeries
Low risk of nutritional deficiencies associated with gastric bypass
Reduced risk of hair loss
No “dumping syndrome” related to dietary intake restrictions

Adjustable

Allows individualized degree of restriction for ideal rate of weight-loss
Adjustments performed without additional surgery
Supports pregnancy by allowing stomach outlet size to be opened to accommodate increased nutritional needs
Only surgical option designed to help maintain long-term weight loss

Reversible

Removable at any time
Stomach and other anatomy are generally restored to their original forms and functions

Effective Long-Term Weight Loss

More than 250,000 LAP-BAND® System procedures performed worldwide
Standard of care for hundreds of surgeons around the world
Academic publications with up to 10 years of follow-up.

Disadvantages

Relies on the patient’s cooperation
It does not restrict liquids
Weight loss is less than gastric bypass