Laparoscopic gastric banding is surgery to help with weight loss. The surgeon places a band around the upper part of your stomach to create a small pouch to hold food. The band limits the amount of food you can eat by making you feel full after eating small amounts of food.

After surgery, your doctor can adjust the band to make food pass more slowly or quickly through your digestive system.

See also: Gastric bypass surgery

You will receive general anesthesia before this surgery. This will make you unconscious and unable to feel pain.

The surgery is done using a tiny camera that is placed in your belly. This type of surgery is called laparoscopy. The camera is called a laparoscope. It allows your surgeon to see inside your belly. In this surgery:

• Your surgeon will make 2 to 5 small incisions (cuts) in your abdomen. The surgeon will pass the laparoscope through one of these openings. It will be connected to a video monitor in the operating room. Your surgeon will look at the monitor to see inside your belly. Your surgeon will insert thin surgical instruments through the other openings.
• Your surgeon will place a band around the upper part of your stomach to separate it from the lower part. This creates a small pouch that has a narrow opening that goes into the larger, lower part of your stomach.
• The surgery does not involve any cutting or stapling inside your belly.
• Your surgery may take only 30 to 60 minutes if your surgeon has done a lot of these procedures.

When you eat after having this surgery, the small pouch will fill up quickly. You will feel full after eating just a small amount of food. The food in the small upper pouch will slowly empty into the main part of your stomach.

Weight-loss surgery may increase your risk for gallstones. Your doctor may recommend having a cholecystectomy (surgery to remove your gallbladder) before your surgery.

Weight-loss surgery may be an option if you are very obese and have not been able to lose weight through diet and exercise.

Laparoscopic gastric banding is not a “quick fix” for obesity. It will greatly change your lifestyle. You must diet and exercise after this surgery. You may have complications from the surgery and poor weight loss if you don’t.

People who have this surgery should be mentally stable and not be dependent on alcohol or illegal drugs.

This procedure may be recommended for you if you have:

• A body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more. Someone with a BMI of 40 or more is at least 100 pounds over their recommended weight. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 25.
• A BMI of 35 or more and a serious medical condition that might improve with weight loss. Some of these conditions are sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.