What Exactly is a Gastric Band

A Gastric Band is an adjustable and inflatable silicone device typically use in gastric banding. It is also known as lap band, and usually placed on top of the stomach by means of a laparoscopic surgery. To clearly describe it, a gastric band is like a belt position around the top portion of your stomach which creates a small pouch. Through this band, the amount of food allowed is limited depending on the size of the pouch made. The tightness is controlled according to the recommendation of your surgeon and the response of your body.

In some cases when the silicone band is too tight, a patient could experience nausea and vomiting. When this happens, there’s no need for you to panic since it is normal because the body has not yet adjusted to it. However, if these side effects continue and other complications start to show up for days, then you should visit your surgeon so the lap band can be loosened.  As additional information, the gastric band has been used since mid 1980s because it offers many great advantages when it comes to weight loss surgeries.

Advantages of a Gastric Band …

One advantage of the gastric band is that it is placed laparoscopically which is great for some people since they don’t need to be absent for work. This is because laparoscopic procedure is not a major surgery. It is done with only small incisions involved while the lap band is placed with the use of special surgical instruments and laparoscope. Aside from that, it is also reversible, though in most cases the lap band is left there permanently to avoid gaining the weight back. For instance if there is a great need for it to be removed, then it can be done laparoscopically and the stomach will return to its original size in no time. Plus the most convenient advantages of all, is that the band is adjustable. Since it is adjustable, it is safe for you because your doctor can control it according to the weight loss you desire without having to suffer from too much complication.

If you look at gastric band forums, most of the comments are positive and will tell you that in all the weight loss surgeries, it is the safest. Also, if ever your body responds negatively to the gastric band diet, your surgeon can easily do something about it by only adjusting the lap band and make the first few days of the surgery a lot easier for you.

Is a Gastric Band Expensive?

Gastric band cost usually ranges from around $18,000 to $30,000 or could be higher if your location is in urban areas. But even if the price is quite expensive, if in exchange to that is lesser risk of complications then the cost is reasonable enough. Although gastric bypass surgery or Roux-en-Y has the same surgery cost, their difference is it uses surgical staples instead of silicone bands. The reason why there are higher complication rates than laparoscopic surgery, since surgical staples has big probability of food leakage that may lead to other serious problems. So even though there is a big cost difference when it comes to surgery cost, some surgeons still prefer the gastric band since it has the same results and at the same time have rare complications.