Hi there - I attended a class today regarding my lap-band surgery and a few people brought up the two brand of bands. Some people preferred one over the other. Does anyone have any advice on this? Would love to hear if you have experiences or know anything. Apparently I can pick which one I want. Didn't know there was a "shopping" aspect to having this done...LOL! Thank you in advance for your input.

I'm laughing because I was just posting a thread on the same thing!! My doctor has totally left the choosing up to me and I am sooo confused. He says there is no major difference but if you look around this website you will see a bunch of opinions... If you find any concrete information I would love if you shared :redface:

Wow, there is so much to learn. I'm sure glad I found this site for help.

When I got the band a year ago I asked the doctor which he used and then what size I would get. He said that he would try to use the inmed but would not know the type and size until he got in there and was able to see what would fit the best. When we first meet the doctor he showed us a couple examples of the band and was able to see and feel them. It was really neet he showed them to us. Was able to learn a lot about what we would be getting into.

Chris

They both do the same thing. Think of how you can buy sneakers by Nike or Adidas. They fit slightly differently between brands, and one has a lower port profile, but that's really all there is. I certainly wouldn't make the decision based on the port profile alone. You should ask your dr for the benefits of each before you make your decision. That's what you are paying them for. :redface: Make sure that your doctor is certified by the makers of each band so that you can be sure that they can even explain the differences to you.

I asked Dr. Ortiz about why he uses Inamed over Realize and brought up the "self anchoring" port of the realize band. He said that with the port and stapler tool you attach the port to the abdominal wall without seeing where you are attaching it. That you could possibly pierce a blood vessel or incorrectly attach it and not know it. With the Inamed port you suture it under direct observation which he prefers so he can see every aspect of attaching the port.

Beyond that in the band itself, iirc the Realize band is much wider and I've read that is to reduce the chances of slippage. I'm not sure I believe that as both bands use a technique to suture the bottom of the stomach around the top of the band to the top of the stomach which is the main resolution of the problem of slippage.

I'm not aware of any other major differences.