Number of Procedures

eyespy · April 7, 2007

I know that one of the questions to ask your surgeon is how many lapband procedures he has perfomed, but what is the answer? How many is enough? Here is information I got from the website of the Dr. I am considering. He has a good reputation, and I believe none of his patients have died. I am a little concerned that he has only performed 100 + lapband surgeries. He seems to be very credntialed, and I know several patients that have used him for gastric bypass. As I said, he has a good reputation. I haven't had my initial consultation yet--still in the research phase and waiting for the seminar in May.

Below are his credentials as listed on the hospitals web page.

Memberships in professional and scientific societies include the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Bariatric Surgeons (ASBS), and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). Dr. L. is a physician teaching proctor for the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons.

has completed a fellowship in bariatric and minimally invasive surgery (which is the highest degree of training that can be obtained in the field of bariatrics).

He has performed over 1,000 gastric bypass surgeries and taken care of over 3,000 bariatric patients.

He has performed over 100 lap band procedures.

faithmd · April 8, 2007

Some will argue that a surgeon who has done 4,000 is tons better than a surgeon who has done 100. I would argue that may not be true.

I spoke with Don Mills at Allergan (the makers of the LapBand) and he told me that in order to be a proctor (teacher of others to place the band) for the LapBand, a surgeon must have placed...........100 bands!

Yep, Allergan considers a surgeon who has placed 100 bands to be an "expert" in their eyes.

I would say the surgeon you found sounds perfectly qualified. I would also ask him how many complications he has run into and what he has done about them. How many infections he has had and how many removals he has done (hopefully none to both, unless he is a surgeon who advertises for folks who WANT the band out, to come to him for removal).

You also have to feel comfortable with his responses and he should not be hesitant to answer these questions. After all, you are hiring him to do work on your most valuable asset, your body.

Check out what other patients think of him by looking over on obesityhelp.com for his profile.

Good Luck!

The surgeon I will likely end up having has only put in 30-50, but I am perfectly comfortable with his answers to my very pointed questions and the group he is in has among the lowest mortality rates in the country. I realize that 30-50 is a relatively low number, but I don't know that I'd be more comfortable having someone who has put in 4,000. I'd be wondering if I was being treated like a part on an assembly line and I would personally have to wonder if it becomes so repetitious to them after that many that they slack off sometimes (I'm sure that's not true, but *I* would think that).