What is Lap Band Surgery?

Gastric Lap Band surgery has many distinct advantages over other weight loss surgery procedures. The recovery time for Dr. Anderson's patients is minimal. Patients typically stay overnight and go home the next day due to the procedure's minimally invasive approach. The Lap Band procedure is performed "laparoscopically", which means the gastric band is placed with thin surgical instruments and small incisions. Laproscopic instruments have small cameras that allow the gastric Lap band to be placed around the upper part of the stomach without cutting or stapling, resulting in faster recovery time.

How Does it Work?
The lap band (i.e., "gastric band") is an inflatable device that is placed around the upper area of the stomach. By cinching the top of the stomach, two things occur. First and most obvious, your stomach becomes smaller and logically a smaller stomach means that you will not be able to eat as much. Second, cinching the top area of the stomach creates a little pouch that slows the emptying process into the stomach. The combination of these two factors causes patients to eat less and feel fuller for a longer period of time. The lap-band is inflated and adjusted through a tiny access port under the skin. Since finding the right size for your stomach can be a matter of trial and error, your surgeon injects or removes saline from the lap-band to increase or decrease restriction which limits the amount of food you can eat.

Gastric Bypass vs. Lap Band

There are several options for weight loss surgery in Idaho. Some surgeons in Idaho perform what is know as "Gastric Bypass". The gastric bypass procedure has serious risks and side effects while the lap band procedure shows the same weight loss results without as many risks. Some of the risks of gastric bypass include:

• Stomach cutting, stapling and intestinal re-routing required
• More operative complications than with the lap band
• Portion of digestive tract is bypassed, and as a result can cause major nutritional deficiencies
• "Dumping syndrome" can occur
• Non-adjustable
• Extremely difficult to reverse
• Higher death rate than the lap-band procedure

It is important to research and talk to professionals about which procedure is best for you. If you would like more information concerning the lap band procedure, please sign up for our free lap-band information packet.

Calculate Your BMI

To help determine if lap band surgery is right for you, use this BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator below. Severe obesity is defined as a BMI greater than 35.

 

Weight: lbs.

Height: Ft. In.

Body Mass Index

According to the Panel on Energy, Obesity, and Body Weight Standards published by American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, your category is:

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