GRAPEVINE, TEX. — Proponents of other types of bariatric surgery often question whether laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is a sufficiently potent weight-loss procedure in superobese patients, but outcomes at one bariatric surgery center attest to its effectiveness.
Among 2,909 patients who underwent LAGB at New York University Medical Center in the past 7 years, substantial, and indeed nearly identical, weight loss was achieved and maintained over time across all baseline body mass index categories, Dr. George Fielding reported at the annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
The study population as a whole had a mean 37.6% excess weight loss at 1 year in this retrospective study, increasing to a maximum of 53% at 3 years, then falling back modestly to 47% excess weight loss at 6 years, according to Dr. Fielding, codirector of the New York University Program for Surgical Weight Loss.
Patients with a baseline BMI below 40 kg/m
Complications consisted of band slippage in 4.5% of the patients, port-related problems such as leak or abscess in 3.3%, band intolerance or malfunction in 1.6%, and band erosion in 0.2%.
This study didn't track changes in comorbidities over time. However, the high baseline prevalence of major medical comorbidities in the study population is worth noting. After all, bariatric surgery is the only treatment for severe obesity with demonstrated long-term efficacy, and substantial improvement in obesity-related comorbidities often occurs 1–2 years after LAGB, Dr. Fielding noted.
Dr. Fielding disclosed serving as an adviser to Allergan Inc. and Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc.