Gastric Band Complications

Obesity gastric bands may cause more complications than weight loss. Bloomberg News (3/22, Wechsler) reports, "Almost half of patients undergoing gastric banding for obesity needed to have the device removed," according to an online-first study published in the Archives of Surgery. Data show that "about 60 percent of the 82 patients with the device, Allergan Inc.'s Lap-Band, followed over 12 years or more needed additional operations." Meanwhile, the minimally invasive surgery led to "weight loss" of for roughly "18 percent" of the patients. According to WebMD (3/21, Doheny), about 40% of the 82 patients "had major complications." HealthDay (3/21 Mozes) noted that "another 22 percent experienced relatively minor complications," and almost "50 percent had to have the bands entirely removed." MedPage Today (3/21, Gever) reported that "in all but a few cases, inadequate weight loss or device breakdown was the reason for band removal." Still, of the "78 patients indicating their level of satisfaction with the original lap-band procedure, 60% said they were pleased or very pleased. Moreover, on an intent-to-treat basis, patients in the study had lost 42.8% of their original excess weight at follow-up, and the mean reduction in body mass index was 7.8 points." Medscape (3/21, Lowes) also covered the study results.