My band has eroded into my stomach. How common is this

and I wonder how they remove it

Stomach erosion is something rare but can happen. It can happen for many different reasons. There are factors like alcohol, spicy food, bad eating habits ( not following doctors orders), nick during surgery, rapid fills, large fills etc that can cause stomach erosion.

If your erosion is very small then your doc might unfill you, put you on meds for a few weeks and then check your stomach again. If the hole in your stomach healed a lot then a simple stitch can be placed to fix the problem thus not needing to remove the band.

There is no perfect and exact way that all doctors remove the band. When I had my band removed my doc removed it laparoscopically the same way it was put in. He used the same incisions too.

I know that if the erosion is bad and way into your stomach then the doctor can remove the band endoscopically ( going down your throat and cutting the band in half inside your stomach) and laparoscopically ( pulling the band out ).

All docs are different though. If your getting your band removed you can ask him how it is done. This is just what I know my doc does

My doc. said erosion happens in 1% of cases.