Appropriate Time for Gastric Band Removal

ABSTRACT

As the epidemic of morbid obesity has been rising globally over the decade, bariatric surgery has also been grown to manage obesity and its comorbidities. Besides of its safety, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) has been known to be more effective in handling obesity with regard to weight loss and its long-term sustainability, compared to medical treatments. Failure of LAGB, defined as either the unsatisfactory weight loss or the development of major long-term complications, results in revision or removal of gastric band. After explantation of gastric band, rebanding or conversion into other bariatric surgeries such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy is required in terms of maintaining weight loss. Major cause of band removal alone is psychogenic factors like patients' anxiety or feeing discomfort without anatomic problems. In Korea there has been grown of patients' vague demand to remove their gastric band regarding the death of a celebrity. Considering such trend, in order to prevent indiscriminate finish of the treatment, suggestion of appropriate time for gastric band removal on the basis of analyzing the course of weight loss and the occurrence of complications is essential.