What exactly is a gastric band?
It’s an adjustable silicone ring placed—like a belt—around the stomach. It makes the stomach smaller so it fills with food a lot quicker. During surgery, it is connected to an access port below the skin via thin tubing. This allows the surgeon to inflate, deflate and adjust the lap band to the right level of weight loss.

How much weight will I lose?
You should always lose weight a little at a time. Losing weight quickly can be dangerous to your health, and we try to ensure your weight loss is gradual, steady and permanent. A weight loss of 2 to 3 pounds a week in the first year after the operation is possible. 1 to 2 pounds per week is more likely – but overtime that’s an awful lot of pounds. In fact the average weight loss is 50%-60% of your excess weight within 2 years (British Medical Journal).

Do I need a gastric band or a gastric bypass?
For patients with a BMI less than 40 we usually recommend gastric banding. For patients with a BMI greater 40 gastric bypass surgery is usually the treatment of choice. However, these guidelines are not fixed and selection of the type of surgery should be made after a consultation. Very occasionally, Dugal recommends a sleeve gastrectomy as an initial procedure followed by a gastric bypass.

	Gastric Band	Gastric Bypass
Laparoscopic operation	Yes	Yes
Technical difficulty	Relatively straightforward	Requires advanced laparoscopic skills
Hospital stay	24 hrs	48 hrs
Complications	Uncommon	Uncommon but can be serious
Reversibility	Straightforward	Difficult
Start of weight loss	Minimum of 6 weeks	Starts immediately
Expected weight loss	30-60% of excess weight	70% of excess weight
Failure to lose weight	10%	<1%

What are the risks and complications of surgery?
Although the gastric band is the safest weight loss operation all surgical procedures are associated with some risk. Before you decide whether to undergo weight reduction surgery you'll need to balance the risks of the procedure against the risks of obesity.

Will I need to exercise?
Lap bands offer people a very strong incentive to change, rather than a quick solution to obesity. You will still need to change the foods you eat and make sure you exercise to maintain a healthy weight.

Can I get pregnant after gastric banding?
Then your chances of becoming pregnant will actually improve with weight loss. We suggest waiting about 12 months after the operation before trying for a baby. Once your weight has leveled off there will be adequate nutrition available for both of you.

What do I do now?
Call us on 020 7935 1210 for a free information pack or click here to send us an email.