Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding successfully reduces weight over the long term but bands frequently erode, requiring follow-up surgery, according to a report by the Archives of Surgery.
In a Belgian study, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding resulted in a mean excess weight loss of 42.8 percent after 12 years and the operative mortality rate was zero.
However, nearly one in three patients experienced band erosion, and nearly 50 percent of patients required removal of their bands, leading to a reoperation rate of 60 percent. Seventeen percent of patients had their procedure switched to laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.
Read the Archives of Surgery report on gastric banding.
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