Laparoscopic adjustable gastric bands that are also known widely as lap bands are inflatable silicone devices that are usually placed around the upper portion of the stomach. Placement is made using laparoscopic surgery to treat obesity.

Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band Surgery

In essence; the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery is a type of bariatric surgeries and is usually applied for the obesity patients who have body mass index of around 40 or more. It is also used for such patients who are suffering from certain ailments that are offshoot of use of the surgical procedure and resultant weight loss. Some such ailments are –

• Sleep apnea;
• Type 1 or type 2 diabetes;
• Different types of arthritic developments;
• GERD;
• Hypertension which is also known as high blood pressure; and
• Metabolic syndromes.

Various other ailments may also come up but these are the common ones.

Official Approval

Food and Drug Administration expanded its approval on adjustable gastric bands for such patients who have body mass or BMI in the range of 30-40 in addition to one of the preconditions like diabetes or high blood pressure. Of course the use is permissible only after all available channels are exhausted and they failed to produce the desired results. And it includes exercising and dieting as well.

Different Types of Adjustable Bands

Various types of adjustable brands are available in the market. Two of the types have been approved by FDA for the United States markets.

• Lap band system that was approved back in 2001 is a device that is available in five different sizes and has been continuously undergoing modification over the years. Latest developments in the line are Lap-Band AP-L and the Lap-Band AP-S. Both of them feature standardized injection port that is sutured into the skin and at the same time fill volumes of 14ml and 10ml respectively.
• Realize adjustable gastric band was approved by the FDA in the year 2007. Like lap bands it is also improving from time to time. Latest in the line is the Realize-C that has 14% more adjustability in comparison to traditional Realize bands. Unlike the lap band, it has injection port devoid of sutures.

Adjustable Bands Outside U.S

A couple of adjustable gastric bands are also used outside United States; namely; Heliogast and Midband. However, these bands have not been approved by the FDA. Midband was the first to hit the market in the year 2000 while Heliogast made its debut in 2003. Midband does not contain any sharp edges or irregularities and is opaque to X-Rays. On the other hand Heliogast bands are streamlined and ease insertion during the operations.

Gastric bands are used to help severely obese people in losing weight and they can be adjusted in 4-6 weeks time and the entire procedure takes only 10 minutes. It is also possible performing the adjustments periodically and it will help the user to lose weight continuously. Best part of it is that it also dispenses with the requirement of any surgical operations.