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Lap-BAND

Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery is intended for people who are approximately 100 pounds or more overweight (with a Body Mass Index of 40 or greater) and who have not had success with other medical therapies such as diet, exercise, medications, etc. In some cases, a person with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35 or greater and one or more co-morbid conditions may be considered for bariatric surgery.

Lap – BAND

The Adjustable Gastric Band – often called the band – involves an inflatable band that is placed around the upper portion of the stomach, creating a small stomach pouch above the band, and the rest of the stomach below the band.

The common explanation of how this device works is that with the smaller stomach pouch, eating just a small amount of food will satisfy hunger and promote the feeling of fullness. The feeling of fullness depends upon the size of the opening between the pouch and the remainder of the stomach created by the gastric band. The size of the stomach opening can be adjusted by filling the band with sterile saline, which is injected through a port placed under the skin.

Because of complications, Dr. Parra and other surgeons no longer perform the Lap-BAND surgery. Our program offers care for patients who may need ongoing management of a previous surgery, includes Lap-BAND patients.

"We don’t tell everyone the Lap-Band has to be taken out,” says Dr. Parra. “If you have a Lap-BAND and it’s working for you, and we can work with you, I would be happy to. But if the Lap-BAND is not working, we can offer you the next step."