Surgical Options

Lap Adjustable Gastric Band

Offered at BID-Milton or BIDMC

LAP-BANDLAGB is a “restrictive” type of procedure for Surgical Weight Loss (Bariatric Surgery). During this procedure, the surgeon implants two medical devices into the patient: a silicone band and an injection port. The silicone band is placed around the upper part of the stomach which molds the stomach into two connected chambers, creating a small stomach pouch. The injection port is attached to the abdominal wall, underneath the skin. The port is connected to the band with soft, thin tubing.

The small stomach pouch, “restricts” the amount of food patients can eat by filling quickly, which helps patients feel satisfied with less food. The band is adjustable with gradual adjustments made per individual weight loss needs. Adjustments are made by your healthcare professional in our office using a needle to inject saline solution into the band through the port. Adding saline increases the amount of restriction provided by the band, further reducing the amount of food needed for patients to feel full. LAGB is reversible.

Complications, which may occur with LAGB surgery, include:

  • slippage of the band (2-3% of patients)
  • band erosion (1% of patients)
  • port infection (1% of patients)
  • injury to adjacent organs (0.5% of patients)
  • death within 30 days ( < 0.5% of patients)

Information has been taken from the Massachusetts Expert Panel on Weight Loss Surgery Summary from the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction within the Department of Public Health.