How does a gastric band work and what are the benefits?
When it comes to surgery there is always an element of risk. While this is still true with gastric banding surgery, and many other forms of weight loss surgery, the risk is very minor and significant problems are quite rare.
While the chances of a problem occurring during gastric bypass surgery are quite low (around 5%), the risks that do come with gastric band surgery include haemorrhage, reaction to medication, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolus (blood clots in the lungs), infection and death.
As gastric bands do not fully achieve complete weight loss success until about 2 years after surgery, there are long-term complications that may arise. The main three problems that are commonly found with gastric bands are a band “slip”, erosion and issues with the tubing and port. The chances of such issues can be lessened by finding a experienced practitioner, and there is more information about the procedure on www.gastricbands.co.uk.
Band “Slippage”
It is not uncommon for the gastric band to slip slightly at some point following surgery. Often this will mean that either the band has slipped upwards or that the stomach pouch has stretched, resulting in more of the stomach sitting above the gastric band.
The usual reason for this is due to food being consumed too quickly or at too high a volume. If the surgery is performed to a high standard, band slippage has been found to occur in as little as 4% of patients and has even been reported to be as low as 0.26%.
Erosion
As the surgical results of a gastric band are long-term, certain problems can come about that would not be expected in short-term surgery. Erosion is one such problem and happens when the band is “absorbed” into the actual stomach. This is an exceptionally rare occurrence, happening in around 0.5% of patients and will require the removal of the band.
Tubing or Port Issues
The tubing and actual port, which allow the insertion of fluid into the band, can occasionally become damaged, usually broken or punctured by the needle when fluid is inserted. As with erosion this is a rare complication, occurring in roughly 1.15% of cases.