Two Years of Practice in Adjustable Silicone Gastric Banding (LAP-BAND™): Evaluation of Variations of Body Mass Index, Percentage Ideal Body Weight and Percentage Excess Body Weight

Background: In the treatment of morbid obesity, surgery had been the only method of obtaining a good and enduring weight loss. Although the procedure of choice is still a matter of debate, among gastric restriction procedures LAP-BAND™ has become our first choice. Methods: We report the results from 62 morbidly obese patients operated in the period October 1994-December 1996. Their characteristics were: mean age 35.6 years, mean body weight 130.6 kg, mean height 162.3 cm, mean body mass index (BMI) 49.9 kg/m², mean percentage ideal body weight (%IBW) 215.7 and mean excess weight (EW) 69.57 kg. Results: Twenty-four months after surgery we found a mean BMI of 39.3, a mean %IBW of 168.6 and a mean % EW loss of 88.5. We removed the band in two patients: one after 9 months because of stoma stenosis and pouch enlargement in a woman who had been lost at follow-up, and the other for gastric slippage occurring after 18 months due to incorrect fixation of the band. Conclusion: Our results led us to consider LAP-BAND™ as the surgical approach for severe obesity among those patients selected for gastric restriction; indeed, it was very safe as well as effective and was rarely followed by complications.