Adjustable silicone gastric banding: Complications in a personal series

Background: Morbid obesity is a very severe pathology, deriving partly from a psychological disturbance of nutritional behavior. Besides a behavioral therapeutic approach, surgery appears to be necessary to resolve associated diseases by causing a satisfactory weight loss. Adjustable gastric banding is a less-invasive, potentially reversible procedure that guarantees an optimal quality of life. Methods: The authors have performed Kuzmak's gastric banding since 1992, with the lap-band approach since 1995; 183 patients were submitted to surgery, and 68 of these were operated by the laparoscopic approach. Average body mass index was 45.5 kg/m(2). The complications were always under control and have decreased since the introduction of the recent lap-band. Results: Gastric banding is still a very young procedure and it is difficult to state definitive results yet. Preliminary results, according to our experience are satisfactory in terms of weight loss, without metabolic changes and without mortality. Conclusions: Our experience is encouraging if patient selection is accurate and rigid. (C) 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishers.