You will receive general anesthesia before this surgery. You will be asleep and unable to feel pain.

The surgery is done using a tiny camera that is placed in your belly. This type of surgery is called laparoscopy. The camera is called a laparoscope. It allows your surgeon to see inside your belly. In this surgery:

• Your surgeon will make 1 – 5 small surgical cuts in your abdomen. Through these small cuts, the surgeon will place a camera and the instruments needed to perform the surgery.
• Your surgeon will place a band around the upper part of your stomach to separate it from the lower part. This creates a small pouch that has a narrow opening that goes into the larger, lower part of your stomach.
• The surgery does not involve any cutting or stapling inside your belly.
• Your surgery may take only 30 – 60 minutes if your surgeon has done a lot of these procedures.

When you eat after having this surgery, the small pouch will fill up quickly. You will feel full after eating just a small amount of food. The food in the small upper pouch will slowly empty into the main part of your stomach.

Weight-loss surgery may increase your risk for gallstones. Your doctor may recommend having a cholecystectomy (surgery to remove your gallbladder) before your surgery.

Weight-loss surgery may be an option if you have been severely obese for 5 years or more and have not been able to lose weight through diet and exercise.

Laparoscopic gastric banding is not a “quick fix” for obesity. It will greatly change your lifestyle. You must diet and exercise after this surgery. You may have complications from the surgery and poor weight loss if you don’t.

People who have this surgery should be mentally stable and not be dependent on alcohol or illegal drugs.

Doctors often use the following body mass index (BMI) measures to identify patients who may be most likely to benefit from weight-loss surgery. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 25. This procedure may be recommended for you if you have:

• A (BMI) of 40 or more. This usually means that men are 100 pounds overweight and women are 80 pounds over their ideal weight.
• A BMI of 35 or more and a serious medical condition that might improve with weight loss. Some of these conditions are sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.