I have previously posted I'm in the beginning stages of deciding to go through with the LapBand, I keep seeing "plication", what is this? Is it necessary to be more successful with just the band? Without it are you less successful? And how do you determine if you need it with the band?

There is no "one size fits all" WLS for every patient. Each surgery is a trial and error journey. Will the lapband be the best for you? Who knows?

Will the band w/plication be better? No one knows and the only way to know which is better would be if we had a parallel universe and your other identical person had a surgery different from yours. So, again, there is no answer to your question?

Here is a link to more info on Plication: http://doctorsofweightloss.com/banded-plication

My doctor recommended plication, so I had it done with my procedure. It involved essentially folding over and stitching or stapling the stomach so that the stomach has less capacity, similar to what would happen if you had sleeve gastrectomy. My doctor calls it a fundoplasty. Reasons he recommended it are that once food gets through the band, you are still limited in how much you can eat because your stomach is much smaller. He also said that there is less likelihood of band slippage because there is not as much of a size differential between the portions of the stomach above and below the bands.

The plication not only is restrictive similar to the sleeve it also helps with the hormones that regulate the absorption of food as fat. Given that understanding, the plication was a go for me and my husband both.

Having had serious digestive issues in the past, I can honestly say that my digestion has never been so good as it is since I have had this surgery. I am a happy happy plibandster.