Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death amongst Americans. Many Americans are now getting weight reduction surgery to prevent this.
Reuters reports on band versus bypass surgery. Experts say that both band and bypass surgeries have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Which one is better for you?
Researchers are emphasizing the importance of patients doing their research and getting second and third opinions before choosing a route. They are emphasizing the importance of each person getting the surgery that is best for their body.
How was the study conducted?
A study of real-world results of these surgeries was conducted.
How many people were included? The experts took the results of thousands of patients.
What were the results?
The study found that gastric bypass surgery generates much greater weight loss than an alternative adjustable gastric band. However not everything is so rosy, both procedures have complications.
What are the different advantages and disadvantages?
“Gastric bypass surgery clearly results in more weight loss, but also comes with a higher risk of short-term complications. His study found, though, that patients who got the adjustable band were far more likely to have surgeries years later to address problems or to remove the band entirely,” according to Reuters.
How did the researchers come to this analysis?
Dr. Arterburn (the study’s author) and his team compared outcomes for band and bypass surgeries in the past ten years.
What do these surgeries consist of? Reuters explains,
“One, laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), makes the stomach into a small pouch and connects it directly to the middle portion of the small intestine, and the other, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, or ‘lap band’ surgery, involves placing a band around the top part of the stomach to create a similar small stomach pouch.”
What is the objective of the surgeries?
The goal is to make patients feel more full with less food. With the band surgery, surgeons can adjust it later on to pass more quickly or slowly through the stomach. More than half of the patients in the study got gastric bypass surgery.
What were the results?
“Those who had lap-band surgery lost an average maximum of 8 points on the body mass index (BMI) scale, a measure of weight relative to height. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 25, and BMIs over 30 are considered obese. Patients are generally eligible for bariatric surgery if they have a BMI of at least 35. Patients who had gastric bypass surgery lowered their BMI by an average maximum of 14.8 points,” according to Reuters.
Patients in both studies did experience complications as time went on. Out of patients who had lap-band surgery lost an average maximum of 8 points on the body mass index (BMI) scale, this is a measure of weight relative to height. A healthy BMI is in the range of 18.5 and 25, and BMIs over 30 are considered obese. Patients are usually eligible for bariatric surgery if they have a BMI of a minimum of 35. Those who had gastric bypass surgery lowered their BMI by a general maximum of 14.8 points. Two tenths of one percent of lap-band patients and three tenths of one percent of gastric bypass patients actually experienced fatalities.
JAMA Surgery reports almost 14 percent of the lap-band patients needed surgery again during follow-up, while only 5.5 percent of the gastric bypass group needed additional surgeries. Dr. Arteburn concluded saying, “With the band, while you have a little risk, you have less weight loss over all and in the long run, banding patients have more re-operations or additional procedures.”
