What is Vertical Banded Gastroplasty—Laparoscopic Surgery?

Vertical banded gastroplasty is surgery to treat obesity . It causes weight loss by decreasing the amount of food you can eat.

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The surgery treats severe obesity. Doctors use a calculation called body mass index ( BMI ) to determine how overweight or obese you are. A normal BMI is 18.5-25.

This surgery is a weight loss option for people with:

• BMI greater than 40
• BMI 35-39.9 and a life-threatening condition, such as heart disease or diabetes
• BMI 35-39.9 and severe physical limitations that affect employment, mobility, and family life

The success of vertical banded gastroplasty depends on your commitment. If lifestyle changes are made and maintained, the benefits of bariatric surgery include:

• Weight reduction
• Improvement in many obesity-related conditions, such as glucose intolerance, diabetes, sleep apnea , high blood pressure , and high cholesterol
• Improved mobility and...

Possible Complications

If you are planning to have gastroplasty, your doctor will review a list of possible complications, which may include:

• Vitamin deficiencies—You will take a multivitamin daily for the rest of your life.
• Bleeding
• Infection
• Blood clots
• Vomiting
• Breakdown of the staples, allowing stomach juices to leak into the abdomen
• Slipping or wearing away of the band
• Enlargement of the pouch
• Irritation of the throat due to acid reflux
• Hernia formation
• Complications of general anesthesia
• Death, occurs in less than 1% of patients

Factors that may increase the risk of complications include:

• Smoking
• Recent or chronic illness (eg, kidney disease)
• Diabetes
• Old age
• Heart or lung disease
• Bleeding or clotting...