09.10.09
Laparoscopic Band Surgery in Wichita, KS
Hundreds of thousands of overweight patients, including thousands from the Wichita, KS area, have found relief to their oftentimes lifelong battle with weight loss in the form of laparoscopic band surgery. This type of weight loss surgery is also referred to as a Lap-Band. Laparoscopic band surgery involves the surgical placement of a band around the upper section of the stomach that creates a smaller pouch for food. In this way, food intake is limited so that the laparoscopic band wearer can only eat smaller portions. Laparoscopic band surgery is a very successful treatment for obesity that has literally turned the lives of many wearers around completely.
Placing a Laparoscopic Band
Unlike gastric bypass (another alternative weight loss surgery that can be dangerous), laparoscopic band surgery is relatively safe and requires a very short period of recovery time. To place the band, the device is introduced into the abdomen through tiny incisions and then routed around the part of the stomach that will become the new, smaller pouch for food. On the inside of the band, a balloon adjusts to reduce stomach size to make the wearer feel “full”. There is minimal and very unnoticeable scarring with a Lap-Band procedure.
Recovery
Laparoscopic band surgery is done under general anesthesia and is usually accomplished in under an hour. A 15cc pouch is created in the stomach with the band, and the design of the Lap-Band allows for the surgeon or other medical professional to deflate or inflate it post-operatively as needed for the patient’s particular needs.
Laparoscopic Advantages
As compared to more invasive procedures like gastric bypass for weight loss, laparoscopic surgery has many advantages. The small incision that is made during laparoscopic surgery to insert the band is around 1 centimeter long, and there is not cutting or stapling of the stomach – which means that the recuperative period following surgery is much shorter than with more invasive methods. Additionally the laparoscopic band is removable is the need arises and can be adjusted as the bariatric surgeon sees fit over the course of the wearer’s lifetime. The hospital stay when having a laparoscopic band surgery in Wichita, KS is less than two days, and quite often just one day.
