Adjustable Gastric Band Options -
Lap Band ® and RealizeTM Band
LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastic Banding System
Realize™ Adjustable Gastric Band Procedure
Laparoscopic Adjustable Band Procedure
The gastric band is a silicone band with an adjustable balloon covering its inner surface. It is placed around the upper portion of the stomach, making a narrow opening through which food travels. Some suturing of the stomach is done over the band to prevent stomach slippage through the band. A port is placed under the abdominal skin and is connected to the band by a small tube. Several times during the first year after surgery, a special needle is used to inject fluid into the port to tighten the band restricting the amount of food which can be eaten. If the band becomes too tight, then fluid can be removed to allow more food to be eaten.
The gastric banding procedure is usually done laparoscopically, which means that instruments are inserted through small incisions. Patients benefit by having a faster recovery, a lower risk of complications and less scarring.
After this procedure, from 40 to 60 percent of excess body weight is usually lost over the next two to three years. Food continues to travel through the rest of the stomach and small intestine and is absorbed normally. A multivitamin and mineral supplement should be taken regularly.
LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System
The LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System helps you control your food intake and supports long term, sustainable weight loss.
Advantages of the LAP-BAND® System:
- Minimally invasive surgery
- No intestinal re-routing, cutting or stapling of the stomach wall or bowel as with gastric bypass
- Often performed on an outpatient basis
- Small incisions and minimal scarring
- Reduced post-surgical pain, shorter hospital stay and recovery time
- Return to work/normal activities typically within a week
- Fewer risks and side effects
- Low risk of post-surgical nutritional deficiencies associated with gastric bypass
- Reduced risk of hair loss
- No dumping syndrome related to dietary intake restrictions
Adjustable:
- Allows for personalized steady, healthy rate of weight loss
- No additional surgery for adjustments
- Supports pregnancy by allowing for increased nutritional needs
- Small incisions and minimal scarring
- Surgical weight loss option specifically designed for long term weight maintenance
- While it is intended to be a long-term treatment, the LAP-BAND® System can be removed at any time, in some cases laparoscopically
To register for a free informational seminar or to make an appointment for a consultation with a Temple bariatric surgeon, click here or call 1-800-Temple-Med (1-800-836-7536).
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Realize™ Adjustable Gastric Band Procedure
Overview
The Realize™ Adjustable Gastric Band is a surgically implantable device intended for use in weight reduction and improvement in obesity-related health conditions for patients with morbid obesity. It is a soft, adjustable silicone band that is wrapped around the stomach to limit food intake and makes patients feel full faster and longer.
Commercially available outside the U.S. as the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band (SAGB) since 1996; it has been implanted in over 100,000 patients worldwide.
Realize™ Band patients at the Temple Bariatric Surgery Program are also offered personalized pre- and post-surgical weight-loss coaching through Realize mySuccess™, an online program that allows patients and their doctors to set goals and track their progress on a customized website.
Clinical Trial Data
In a multi-center U.S. clinical trial that led to its FDA approval, Realize™ Band patients lost an average of 50 pounds, or 40 percent of their excess body weight, within the first year and maintained that weight for at least three years. More than one-third of patients lost 50 percent or more of excess body weight, and about 10 percent lost 75 percent or more of excess body weight.
After three years, patients experienced a 22 percent increase in good cholesterol (HDL) and a decrease in bad cholesterol (LDL), total cholesterol, and triglycerides. In addition, patients experienced a statistically significant reduction in the key indicator for type 2 diabetes (HbA1c).
Most common adverse events include nausea, vomiting, constipation, and gastroesophageal reflux (GERD).
How The Procedure Is Performed
Surgeons create small incisions in the abdomen to insert surgical instruments and a camera (laparoscope). A soft, adjustable silicone band is wrapped around the stomach and tightened to create two chambers – a small upper stomach with a narrow opening to a lower stomach.
Once the band is in place, surgeons attach the Realize™ Injection Port to the abdominal wall underneath the skin. Using the Realize™ Port Applier, doctors can inject or remove saline to tighten or loosen the band. This surgery can be done in less than a minute, thereby decreasing time under anesthesia.
Post-surgical adjustments to the band are made based on a patient’s individual needs, and can be performed in about 10 minutes from a doctor’s office.
Realize mySuccess™
Realize mySuccess™ is a program that provides support to help Temple Bariatric Surgery Program patients successfully achieve long-term weight loss with the RealizeTMAdjustable Gastric Band.
Through Realize mySuccess™, patients are given access to a personalized website where, in collaboration with their doctor, they can set goals, chart their progress, and invite family and friends to follow along. The Realize mySuccess™ content has been developed by professionals in health, nutrition, obesity, and psychology to help patients develop personalized health plans, obtain information about exercise and nutrition, receive alerts about potential health issues, and track their overall progress.
The personalized website enables patients to keep a diet and exercise diary, which also offers gentle reminders to help stay on course. Patients can also download healthy recipes and suggested eating and activity plans. In order to help monitor the changes their bodies are going through, patients can even create their own personal 3-D model that they can watch slim down as they lose weight.
The online tracking tools and personalized support made available through Realize mySuccess™ are especially helpful for patients during the first three years of their post-surgical life - as the patients adjust to their new lifestyles, their doctors can follow their journey online between regular doctor visits and step in precisely when needed to help keep the patients on track.
To register for a free informational seminar or to make an appointment for a consultation with a Temple bariatric surgeon, click here or call 1-800-Temple-Med (1-800-836-7536).
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