What are you thoughts on the new news report I saw this a.m. about gastric banding and the study that over 40% of people that have them have complications and either have the band removed or replaced within 12 years. Most said they were happy with their results on keeping the weight off and opted to have the band replaced....what are your thoughts? Have you had problems? How many have had their band replaced? How far out are you from your band? I'm not getting banded until April 18th and I'm not changing my mind based on this report, but I'm curious as to the amount of "complications" that are out there.

http://news.yahoo.co...vecomplications

My issues with this "research" - - this was done on patients that had surgery between 1994 - 1997....haven't things change a lot since then regarding how the band is made, how it is placed etc? Don't they know much more now about the band than they did in 1994?

My band is coming out tomorrow due to phrenic nerve pain. While I don't regret getting it because I have learned a lot over the last 17 months, I also don't regret getting it out since it really didn't do what was promised (getting rid of the hunger or restricting how much I could eat). Fortunately, along the way, I discovered how to do that without the band.

I've been doing a lot of reading and, as time goes on, there seem to be more medical reports questioning the efficacy of gastric banding because they're finding that it does not restrict the quantity of food in many people and/or does not consistently remove the hunger in many cases because the band tightens on its own and sometimes it doesn't remove the hunger at all.

In the end, we find ourselves hopefully grasping at straws, hoping that 'this one' will be *the one*. If we're lucky, it will be. If not, hopefully we learn something in the process that still makes it a positive experience.

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The band has changed a lot since then. I think the truth is though, the band is a foreign object in the body. It only does so much. So if people are unhappy you have to see why.

I had my band done, one incision through the belly button, I ended up with an infection, other than that, I have been golden.

The band is a medical device that is put into your body, of course there are chances of complications. Having the Gastric Bypass you can leak and poison your body, the sleeve has complications, etc.

I do not recommend doing something like this unless someone has tried EVERY OTHER OPTION....

Honestly, I hope to get down to a good weight, then I would like them to remove all the liquid from the band and give myself six months and see if I can keep it off. To me this is a tool, not the cure all.

IF you read lots of posts, you will still gain weight if you make poor dietary choices, or drink alcohol (lots of empty calories) and don't exercise.

Many people over restrict and cause trouble for themselves.

Some people it just doesn't work for.

In the end this is a very personal decision and one that should not be taken lightly. I believe if you have concerns about the media coverage, talk to your doctor. They can tell you the changes that have been made to the band, etc.

Good luck, I did it and I don't regret it at all. I am nearly half way to my goal. To me that is amazing. I am in a size 16, haven't been there in 8 years, no matter how much I watched what I ate and exercised. I have medical things that were going on that once I put on the weight it is nearly impossible to take off. I think for me, it was the right decision, maybe not for others.

I am definately going to discuss this with my doctor. My first wish was to get the "sleeve" because bypass is too much for me to deal with but I'm not heavy enough to qualify and self-pay is not even an option. I'm hoping that the band will be a success for me although everyone around me is trying to talk me out of it and now this new report will just add fuel to their fire. I've made great attempts to make changes to myself prior to the band being put in place and I tell myself that it is not permanent. If I have problems, and it needs to be removed, hopefully it can be done without complications. I've been successful at losing the weight many times, and know I can do it, my problem is keeping it off and I hope that is where the band will be my friend. But, with that, I'm definately talking to the doctor about this.....gosh I wish I could get the sleeve.

According to Allergan -- the Irvine, California-based company that makes the Lap-Band system -- its product has been used in more than 500,000 procedures worldwide. It commands more than two-thirds of a $300 million to $400 million market.

In an email to Reuters Health, Allergan criticized the new study and said both the surgical technique and the Lap-Band itself had changed in the interim.

It also noted that the study was based on only 151 patients from a single hospital, and that the researchers had only been able to test half of those patients.

"We are disappointed to see the publication of an ill-constructed, single-center clinical assessment that does not meet the high clinical standards one should expect from peer-reviewed data, and is not reflective of today's clinical standards," Cathy Taylor, Allergan's director of Corporate Communications, said.

Dr. Marc P. Michalsky, surgical director for the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, seconded the criticism.

"In some ways it is a bit of a historic snapshot of this type of surgery 15 years ago," he said. "I would take these results with a grain of salt."

Jiminyt - Thank you for this information. I do agree with a lot of it and was wondering why they would do this "research" with results from patients from 1994-1997 and I read that was only a small handful. That is why I wondered what others thought about this. I know that the technology and the knowledge has changes so much since 1997!!! Shame on them for even being able to report this OLD information?