Hello,

I have chosen to do the lap band rather than the gastric bypass however a friend of mine went to her preop with her surgeon and her surgeon told her that there is a lot of disadvantages with the lap band. Specifically he told her that he's had to do a lot of reversals because the tissue around the area where the band is, will waist away and eventually has to become a gastric bypass. Is this true? Have any of you experienced anything with this? please help. I'm not sure what I want to do now.

Seriously, where do these doctors get their qualifications? Of the back of a Cornflakes Packet?

That's the biggest load of bullsh*t I've heard yet. Its complete nonsense.

The only tissue that wastes away from the area round the band and round your stomach is FAT. Which is good. Barring an awful complication like erosion of course.

Seriously, if my doctor was talking rubbish like that I wouldnt trust him to put a band in me. I'd think either he doesnt know anything about the band at all or he's trying to manipulate me into another surgery.

Jacqui, normally I don't disagree with you. You are usually right on with everything you have to say.

I have heard of this though. I have heard of people who have been banded and for one reason or another, want to have the band removed and have a different

WLS. They are usually people who can't tolerate fills due to esphogeal spasms. But when they go in to remove the band, there are complications to the point that they can't have a different surgery.

I will have to e mail a friend of mine for more details. She is an Operating room nurse. She is the one who told me about this.

Edited December 16, 200817 yr by Oregondaisy

wow! how scary!!

I know the actual material it's made of is used in other implant procedures and has a good track record and such.

I'm about breaking out in cold sweats thinking about how I might croak or have screwed myself up for sure because the band is going to rot away my organs. Sheesh.

I do not ever want bypass or anything that removes my organs. which is why I chose this.

Edited December 16, 200817 yr by bethm

She's not talking about complications such as slippage, erosion or not being able to tolerate fills though. That can definitely occur. But even when it does, the tissue around the band does not simply waste away so you have to remove half your stomach and convert to bypass. That's ridiculous.

Erosion can leave a nasty old mess in there for sure. But that's a teeny tiny percentage. In many many cases after slippage or erosion rebanding is entirely possible.

Lapbands dont magically dissove your stomach! And if a surgeon had to do a "lot of reversals" because bands he puts in do that, I wouldnt let him touch me.

WOW you guys are freaking me out i'm about to get a band in Jan, and he told me about slip and erosion and my Doctor said if erosion happens 9 time out of 10 he will not replace it!

I know. Thank God that's not the surgeon that will operate me. I went through a 6-month course and one of the girls that was in that class called me and told me that. I started to freak out because I was really looking forward to the band.

Now that same surgeon told her that after a year of losing weight, they remove the band....have you guys ever heard of that? Because I have been researching Lap Band for more than a year and I don't ever remember hearing that after you lose the weight they have to go in to remove it. Please help.....I'm very nervous.

Also, what erosion?

No, they dont remove the band after a year. It is designed to stay there forever. When the band is removed, the patient inveitably regains the weight.

Surely someone is pulling someone's leg? Even a layperson can find out better information than this surgeon has. If he has been trained to place the band then he has to have had access to proper information at some point in time, which is why I think someone is just joking around or trying to scare you.

Erosion can occur when the band kind of erodes through the stomach. It is one of the recognised complications of the band, but it occurs very very seldom, I think the statistic is less than 1%. In 3 years on this board, I've only read of a couple of erosions, 3 maybe. One of the causes of erosion can be infection which starts at the port and travels up the tubing to the band.

Hello,

I have chosen to do the lap band rather than the gastric bypass however a friend of mine went to her preop with her surgeon and her surgeon told her that there is a lot of disadvantages with the lap band. Specifically he told her that he's had to do a lot of reversals because the tissue around the area where the band is, will waist away and eventually has to become a gastric bypass. Is this true? Have any of you experienced anything with this? please help. I'm not sure what I want to do now.

I question if things got a little distorted between her understanding of what the doc said, her translation to you, and your explanation here.

There are indeed a great many "potential" problems with the band, no doubts there. If it will happen... there is no way to know until you get a band and give it a few years. I think that since the band has been out for 7-8 years in the US we are seeing the cycle begin. Everyone was excited about it when it first came out and now we are seeing the problems.

The only thing that comes to mind about what you are explaining above is erosion. I've not heard of anything else that sounds similar to what you describe.

Now that same surgeon told her that after a year of losing weight, they remove the band....have you guys ever heard of that? Because I have been researching LAP-BAND^® for more than a year and I don't ever remember hearing that after you lose the weight they have to go in to remove it. Please help.....I'm very nervous.

This is just too much wrong info. I would have to hear what the surgeon himself said. Something isn't right here.

Jachut:

And if a surgeon had to do a "lot of reversals" because bands he puts in do that, I wouldnt let him touch me.

OP didn't say he was reversing his own patients, just that he was doing a lot. My doc is doing a ton of revisions now and most are not his patients, they are US doc's patients. Revisions are expensive and it's a lot cheaper in MX. There are two main revision surgeons in MX, mine and one deeper into MX.

DS36:

WOW you guys are freaking me out i'm about to get a band in Jan, and he told me about slip and erosion and my Doctor said if erosion happens 9 time out of 10 he will not replace it!

And he shouldn't. If you erode once odds are you'll erode again. Same with slips. If there is too much damage to the stomach there is little they can do for another procedure. That was one of my biggest fears with my own band, I had so many esophageal problems and other issues I was scared to death I wouldn't be able to get a revision. Turns out, everything was great.

It does sound like a case of Chinese Whispers doesnt it?

It does sound like a case of Chinese Whispers doesnt it?

Sure does. Even the worst of the worst surgeons aren't passing around that kind of wrong information.

A friend of mine went to MX to get the sleeve. She met a gal at the hospital that had the band and wanted it removed and a revision to a sleeve because she was not losing weight. When the surgeon went in to remove the band, he said there was no way he could do a sleeve, as the band had done damage to her stomach that was not repairable. She ended up with no band, and no revision surgery.

A friend of mine went to MX to get the sleeve. She met a gal at the hospital that had the band and wanted it removed and a revision to a sleeve because she was not losing weight. When the surgeon went in to remove the band, he said there was no way he could do a sleeve, as the band had done damage to her stomach that was not repairable. She ended up with no band, and no revision surgery.

I know of several cases where people eroded and couldn't get a revision to anything else. They are left with diet and exercise forever.

Now that's a horrible thought!

That friend I was talking about went to Dr. Aceves, so I know she went to a good surgeon too. She said the gal she met had no clue that she would not be able to get a revision surgery, or that the band had done anything to her stomach. How sad.

I know of several cases where people eroded and couldn't get a revision to anything else. They are left with diet and exercise forever.

Well, but....you could say that about almost everything, no? The "sleeve" is a pretty new procedure (the modern incarnation of the sleeve), but eventually somebody somewhere at some time will get sleeved and die. That's just the statistics of any surgery. Now I'm not belittling the sleeve, because you've kicked ass with it, and Mac seems very happy with hers.....nor am I asserting that the band is superior to (fill in the blank). I think we need to be careful when throwing the annecdotal horror stories around, because they are statistically pretty rare.

She said the gal she met had no clue that she would not be able to get a revision surgery, or that the band had done anything to her stomach. How sad.

That is sad. I wonder if she was having any symptoms at all, other than wanting the band removed "because she wasn't losing weight". I'd like to think that should something go south with my band, there would at least be some indication, no matter how small, that something wasn't right.

Well, but....you could say that about almost everything, no? The "sleeve" is a pretty new procedure (the modern incarnation of the sleeve), but eventually somebody somewhere at some time will get sleeved and die. That's just the statistics of any surgery. Now I'm not belittling the sleeve, because you've kicked ass with it, and Mac seems very happy with hers.....nor am I asserting that the band is superior to (fill in the blank). I think we need to be careful when throwing the annecdotal horror stories around, because they are statistically pretty rare.

Well Plain... that's why I wrote "several" cases. It's not like I claimed this is the norm. Considering the number of revisions from band to anything else (just like there are revisions from bypass to band) I don't think "several" cases indicates I was referring to a significant number of people.

I don't think we need to be careful when throwing around examples. How many times have you seen it written on LBT that the reason people are getting the band is because it is reversible and when you remove the band your stomach goes back to exactly how it was before surgery? It NEVER goes back exactly how it was before surgery. There is scarring and adhesions and there just isn't anything wrong with letting people know of potential risks.

It is possible to have damage done to the stomach from a band where the end result is no revision to anything. It's the staple line that is an issue in a revision. So sleeves, bypass, or DS are out when that happens.