LAP-BAND^® System Surgery For Weight Loss

If you are challenged by your weight, we can now help you with our support system that includes counseling, diet management and we now offer the LAP-BAND^® System in Atlantic City; a less-invasive bariatric weight loss surgery that has helped thousands of patients achieve their goal. Weight loss has many benefits besides looking great. Many patients are able to reduce or even eliminate their medications. Many have improved their high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even cured their diabetes!

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is a newer weight loss operation which restricts your food intake and controls your hunger, but does not require stapling or bypass. Weight loss is slower, over about 3 years, but the risks are smaller. An adjustable "band" is placed around the upper stomach. Adjustments are performed by injecting fluid into the "port" periodically, thus managing your weight loss.

It does not interfere with normal digestion and has proven to be one of the safest and most effective weight loss procedures today.

Before LAP-BAND^® System Surgery

Before your LAP-BAND^® System surgery, you will talk in detail with the surgeon. The doctor may also want you to meet with other experts. They can help you understand what will happen during and after the operation. These experts may include a dietician, physiotherapist, psychologist, and other specialists. You will also need to have a number of tests before your surgery. These are to evaluate your health.

The Procedure

When it is time for the operation, you will receive general anesthesia. During the operation, the silicone ring band of the LAP-BAND^® System is fastened like a belt around the upper part of your stomach. This will create a small stomach pouch that limits and controls the amount of food you can eat. This new upper pouch can hold only a small amount of food, so you will feel fuller sooner.

Part of the lower stomach will then be sutured over the band. The rest of the lower stomach will stay in its normal position. Once placed around the stomach, the LAP-BAND^® System is connected by a tube to an access port placed under the skin of your abdomen for adjusting the band. This access port is used in the future to adjust the gastric band by adding or removing saline from the inner balloon, thereby effectively changing the diameter of the band.

If your case is typical, the operation will be done laproscopically via small incisions on the abdomen to insert long, thin surgical instruments. Then the laproscope (an instrument with a light and a tiny camera that sends images to a nearby monitor) is placed through an incision near the belly button. Laproscopic surgery can be performed more quickly, and is less invasive and less traumatic than conventional surgery.

After LAP-BAND^® System Surgery

Once the anesthesia has worn off, you may feel some pain, which can usually be relieved with ordinary painkillers. If there are no complications, you should be able to resume normal activities within a week or two after the surgery.

After your LAP-BAND^® System surgery, you will need a new diet. Your surgeon and/or dietician can help you learn and get used to the changes in lifestyle and eating habits you need to make. It is very important to follow the eating and drinking instructions right from the start after the operation. That's because you must allow your new stomach structure to heal completely and in the right position. It may take a month or more for this to happen.

Your diet progresses through phases, starting with clear liquids. Your diet then progresses to full liquids and pureed food over a 4 to 5 week period. Normal foods are then slowly introduced, but in much smaller quantities than before the surgery. Dietary counseling continues indefinitely.

LAP-BAND^® System Adjustments

The LAP-BAND^® System can also be adjusted to meet your specific needs. Once implanted, the LAP-BAND^® System - like a belt - can be tightened or loosened by inflating or deflating its inner balloon. The inner balloon is inflated or deflated with saline solution via the access port and tubing. LAP-BAND^® System adjustments can be made in a manner of minutes and can work to optimally control your food intake. The first adjustments are usually done 4-6 weeks after your surgery. You and your surgeon will determine when the right time is for your band adjustment.

If necessary, the LAP-BAND^® System operation can also be "reversed" and the LAP-BAND^® System completely removed. In this case, your stomach will generally return to it's pre-surgery condition.

LAP-BAND^® System Before-and-After Photos

Shown are some dramatic before-and-after photos of patients who have undergone LAP-BAND^® System surgery. Each person is is a mere shadow of their former self, and are healthier, happier and more attractive.