What is LAP-BAND®?

Olde Del Mar Surgical invites patients to consider LAP-BAND surgery in San Diego. What is LAP-BAND, and how does it help obese patients lose weight?

The LAP-BAND is a trademarked brand of adjustable gastric banding systems designed to aid in safe surgical weight loss. This bariatric surgery uses a minimally invasive approach with small incisions. This allows patients to lose weight with less scarring, and it can reduce post-surgical pain.

Generic lap bands — also known as laparoscopic adjustable gastric bands (LAGB) — are typically inflatable devices made from silicone. They’re inserted around the top of the stomach to help limit the amount of food — and therefore calories — that obese patients can consume.

Gastric banding, including the San Diego lap band procedures we regularly perform in our La Jolla clinic, helps patients feel full sooner and lose excess weight long-term. It has many proven health benefits.

Perhaps best of all, this particular type of weight loss surgery is easily reversible. That’s because lap band surgery does not require a permanent reconfiguration of the digestive tract. The reversal of the gastric band is a relatively quick and safe surgery to remove it from the abdomen.

San Diego Lap Band Surgery

During gastric surgery, the surgeon makes several small incisions in the abdominal wall to allow careful placement of the silicone gastric band around the upper part of the stomach, as well as a port just below the surface of the skin.

During the minimally invasive procedure, your surgeon will place an adjustable band around the upper stomach. This results in a small pouch.

The lap band is connected to an access port below the skin by thin tubing. Your surgeon can adjust the lap band through this port by inflating or deflating the inner lining with saline.

As the band inflates, the stomach outlet shrinks. This helps reduce and/or restrict the amount of food the patient can eat. It also slows the process whereby the lower stomach is emptied, helping patients feel full sooner and remain feeling full longer.

How does lap band surgery impact hunger?

When optimized to the correct adjustment, a patient should be able to satisfy their hunger with a portion of food about the size of a deck of playing cards.

To control the rate of weight loss, your surgeon can merely tighten or loosen the gastric band as necessary. When the band is optimally adjusted, many patients typically do not feel hungry for five or six hours after their most recent meal.

The Gastric Banding Process

Because the LAP-BAND System uses a silicone ring filled with saline solution, your surgeon can adjust the lap band by adding or removing the saline contained inside the ring.

Your doctor can make the necessary band-adjusted modifications in the weight loss regulation mechanism by tightening or loosening the gastric band as conditions dictate.

Advantages of Lap Band Gastric Banding

Flexible weight loss options
Minimally invasive
Reduced scarring
Quicker recovery time
No intestinal re-routing
Low post-surgical risks & side effects
Personalized weight management

CALCULATE YOUR BMI

Body Mass Index (BMI) Weight Loss Calculator

In order to be considered a suitable candidate for weight loss surgery, you must have either morbid obesity or obesity with co-morbid health problems such as diabetes. We use the body mass index (BMI) system to calculate your body weight:

BMI of 30 to 40 indicates obesity
BMI of higher than 40 is commonly referred to as morbid obesity.

Insurance typically covers surgery if your BMI is greater than 40, or in some instances between 35 and 40, if you have ongoing illnesses that are related to obesity. The FDA has approved weight loss surgery for people with a BMI of greater that 30, but these lower BMI categories are not typically covered by insurance.

Olde Del Mar Surgical

YOU DESERVE SURGICAL EXCELLENCE

As we like to say: You deserve surgical excellence. As a uniquely qualified bariatric surgeon, Dr. Sunil Bhoyrul and Dr. Pascal Bortz performs gastric banding surgery in the city of San Diego on an outpatient basis.

Dr. Bhoyrul and Dr. Bortz uses advanced laparoscopic techniques to reduce pain, minimize scarring, and hasten recovery.

The team at Olde Del Mar Surgical in San Diego is proud to have some of the best outcomes and lowest complications in the country for our bariatric surgeries. In fact, our complication rate of 1% is well below the national rate of 5%.

Photo of the Olde Del Mar Surgical Team

That positions us as the premier provider of lap band surgeries in San Diego. Along with our general surgeries and other weight-loss solutions, patients suffering from obesity and its related health issues, such as type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure, can begin to feel relief and a reduction in the symptoms and afflictions associated with obesity.

The approach at Olde Del Mar Surgical reflects our belief that a patient’s weight loss depends on many more factors than just surgical procedures. It’s why our program is focused as much if not more on pre-op and post-op/follow-up care.

When you walk into our clinic, we think you’ll find that we have created a welcoming and patient-centric atmosphere. We are here for you.

So if you have any questions, we will answer them thoughtfully and completely.

If you have concerns, we will make sure to address them — one by one.

We’ll explain everything in detail so you won’t feel rushed or pressured into making any decision without having all the knowledge you need to make an informed choice.

Lap Bands in San Diego: Recovery

Hospital recovery time for lap band is typically much faster than it is with traditional open surgeries. Every person is different, but most people can return to work within a short time after lap band procedures.

As with all of our bariatric and weight-loss options, we monitor and follow our patients’ progress for one year, We provide information on diet and nutrition, and we continue to provide feedback that informs and educates.

Losing weight after lap band surgery in San Diego helps improve patient outcomes across a wide array of medical issues, including:

Type 2 Diabetes
Sleep Apnea
Infertility
Stroke
Heart Disease
High Blood Pressure
Cardiovascular Disease
High Cholesterol

Contact our office today to get started on your own weight-loss journey toward renewed health and continuing wellness.

Lap-Band®