I know a couple of people on here have had this procedure. I am likely going to have it myself. I like the idea of the plication, but was concerned about the Dr. Watkins posts where he indicated that one of his patients suffered necrosis. I faxed Dr. Watkin's posts to my surgeon so we could discuss it at my consult today. My surgeon says he knows Dr. Watkins and will call him to discuss and then he will call me to share his thoughts.

My surgeon's thinking is that any complications with the plication should show up very soon after the procedure, and that the risk is still relatively low (comparable to the sleeve or bypass). If by chance something happens, a patient should be able to be converted to the sleeve. He does say, not surprisingly, that surgical technique is critical. My surgeon actually traveled to Dubai to learn the surgery from the Dr who developed the technique used today.

I also asked what would happen if the stomach expanded over time and whether the sutures could dig into the tissue, resulting in necrosis. His response was that, over time, the sutures are not even detectable, that they are essentially absorbed into the tissue. This would seem to bolster the claim that plication complications are most often seen very soon after the surgery and not at some point down the road.

So we'll see, I still may just opt for the sleeve....

My insurance would not cover the sleeve. So I chose the band over plication. The results are comparable to that of the sleeve. Do your research, talk to your surgeon and choose the surgery that you feel is best for you. I have heard that many insurances are reluctant to cover plication since it is a relatively new proceedure.

Results for GPS being comparable to VSG is something I heard a lot prior to my op, but one stat I didn't know was the following one:

"overall weight loss was considered satisfactory in 78.6% of the patients who underwent gastric plication and in 97.5% of those who underwent sleeve" which is available in full here:

http://www.skrekas.n...mstatistics.htm

That's nearly a 20% gap in success rate or said differently GPS has almost 10 times the failure rate or VSG!! I don't know if I'd have decided differently if I knew that information but I think it's info not re-told enough!!

I'm curious to hear more about band over plication, so I'd love to hear more if anyone has anything to share about that!

My insurance would not cover the sleeve. So I chose the band over plication. The results are comparable to that of the sleeve. Do your research, talk to your surgeon and choose the surgery that you feel is best for you. I have heard that many insurances are reluctant to cover plication since it is a relatively new proceedure.

I have the banded plication. I was banded originally in Dec, 2001 and did well with the band for about 7 years. After our daughter was born I never could get the *right* fill amount plus my port had flipped almost immediately so fills were problematic. Over about a 2 year period I regained about 80 pounds with pregnancies, a torn achilles and 5 months of bed rest. I went to Dr. Billy after consulting with my doctors at Cedars-Sinai for a second opinion on a revision. I, like a lot of plication patients, researched the sleeve gastrectomy. I liked it a lot but had difficulty with the idea of my stomach being cut out and discarded. After a few months of research and speaking with 4 doctors, I decided plication was best for me. I have a lot of experience with Drs. Ortiz and Corvala so Tijuana was an option but I was lucky enough to find Dr Billy here in Southern California. I chose to get rebanded mainly for insurance purposes as they don't pay for plication. I don't plan to ever fill my band but it is there if needed. I am happy with the plication but like others have said WLS is a tool. I exercise almost every day in some form and try to stick with protein first, water then fruits and veg (I'm not allowed many yet). I've lost about 26 pounds in 6 weeks. I'd like it to be more but so far, I'm happy with my surgery and results. I have about 60-70 more pounds to go and I'm okay with it taking me a year to lose. So far the plication is everything I thought the band would be. I get full on about 1/4 of what I used to eat and more importantly, I'm not constantly hungry!! Head hunger is a b*tch but I'm dealing with it with the help of a therapist. Good luck to you in whatever path you choose.

thanks so much for this post ... i too i'm trying to decide on sleeve or plication and found this to be very informative ... plication is still so new... i like the success rate for the sleeve ... i'm self pay and can't afford to get this wrong... the word necrosis scares me and i never even thought about the suture cutting in the stomach if the stomach was to become large ... pro and cons to both surgeries .. i still researching and weighting it out for myself...

I'm a plication over band,, Unfortunately, its not working for me,, The band worked really well for about 6 years, but then gained back the 70 i lost,, Plication hasn't worked for me, I don't have much restriction, I get full on smaller amounts, but am hungry sooner, and i feel that my appetite is stronger than its ever been

I do wish i had done the sleeve, but I completely researched this, and knew what i was getting into, I just wish it was working for me

I'm a plication over band,, Unfortunately, its not working for me,, The band worked really well for about 6 years, but then gained back the 70 i lost,, Plication hasn't worked for me, I don't have much restriction, I get full on smaller amounts, but am hungry sooner, and i feel that my appetite is stronger than its ever been

I do wish i had done the sleeve, but I completely researched this, and knew what i was getting into, I just wish it was working for me

Sorry to hear that the plication hasn't worked well for you. I ultimately decided on the sleeve. I was sleeved April 4 and have done very well. I'm amazed that i am never hungry, even when I know I need to eat. Plus all the cravings for fast food are gone, which I thought would never be possible since I typically ate fast food 3 times a day, almost every day.

I don't recall if a plication can be converted to a sleeve, if so, maybe that could be an option for you at some point. Best of luck to you, and again, sorry that the plication hasn't worked....maybe some folks on here can give you some tips to help.

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