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Gastric band surgery

requirements

A gastric banding is never the first measure to treat obesity.

Always in the foreground

first a change in life with conscious healthy nutrition and sport.
Drug therapies are also used to reduce appetite or to reduce the absorption of food components in the gastrointestinal tract.

However, some people don't get their weight under control this way. Here there is the possibility of bariatric surgery to intervene. One effective method is gastric banding.

Reimbursement of costs for the gastric band

In certain cases, the health insurance company will cover the costs of the operation:

These are a BMI of> 40 or> 35
with concomitant diseases such as diabetes mellitus or high blood pressure,
Patient motivation and
a normally high surgical risk

The patient's motivation to change their lifestyle with a healthier diet is of central importance in gastric banding, as the operation on the one hand leads to immense impairment of eating behavior, but on the other hand the patient's non-cooperation leads to poor results.

Important NOTE

In concrete terms, this means: Despite the gastric band, a conscious and healthy diet is of central importance especially sweet foods and also high-calorie drinks can easily pass the newly created stomach narrowing - if the patient does not limit himself to this, he has gastric banding has no effect.

The surgical technique of the gastric band

A gastric band reduction is a so-called minimally invasive operation; large scars are therefore avoided.

Bariatric surgery is different

gastric constricting (restrictive) procedures / stomach reduction e.g. gastric banding
malabsorptive procedures that result in less food being consumed

The gastric band is a minimally invasive procedure that is controlled by cameras that are inserted into the abdomen (laparoscopy) (so-called keyhole technology).
The gastric band is placed around the middle part of the stomach so that a small forestomach (pouch) is created that holds around 15 ml.
A controllable system is most often used: the gastric band itself in this case is a silicone ring, the inside of which is connected to a tube, which in turn is connected to a port (an access through the chest to the stomach). This port is a small chamber that is placed under the skin and thus remains accessible.
Via the port it is possible to control the tightness of the gastric band by adding or releasing volume (liquid). This means that the gastric band can always be reached from the outside later and can be made narrower or wider without surgery.
The upper part now serves as the stomach and only holds a fraction of the actual stomach contents. This makes you feel full faster after meals and automatically eats less.
In some cases the gastric band has to be adjusted again because the forestomach (Pouch) expands (Pouching) and it allows more filling again. The gastric band may also cut or the gastric band may slip (Slippage). Since it is a foreign body, it can also lead to infections. The port can also become infected, it can slip or tear off.
In some cases (30-50%) these complications can lead to another operation, namely the removal of the gastric band and another technique to make the stomach smaller (e.g. conversion into a sleeve stomach, see below). Another complication is that you vomit more often, which can lead to tooth damage and aspiration (vomit gets into the lungs and can lead to pneumonia).

Risks of the operation

The operation is a minimally invasive procedure, but as with all other operations it is natural certain risks for the patient.
These are common risks like:

Blood loss
accidental injury to other structures in the abdomen
Infections
thrombosis
Pulmonary embolism
Risks caused by being extremely overweight (wound healing disorders, infections, cardiovascular complications, etc.)
The risk of anesthesia is increased - more difficult intubation is to be expected