Vertical Banded Gastroplasty—Laparoscopic Surgery Side Effects and Warnings

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 disorders

Call Your Doctor

After you leave the hospital, call your doctor if any of the following occurs:

• Signs of infection, including fever and chills
• Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or discharge from the incision sites
• Pain that you cannot control with the medicines you have been given
• Blood in the stool
• Pain, burning, urgency, or frequency of urination, or persistent bleeding in the urine
• Persistent nausea and/or vomiting
• Pain and/or swelling in your feet, calves, or legs
• Cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain
• Any other concerning symptoms

In case of an emergency, CALL 911.