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Abandon Gastric Banding Bariatric Surgery, Say Experts

wannabeminime

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Probably an important article, so i thought i had better post it here;

From Medscape Medical News
Abandon Gastric Banding Bariatric Surgery, Say Experts
Kate Johnson
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July 16, 2012 (San Diego, California) — Bariatric surgeons should abandon gastric banding in favor of sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass procedures, several researchers reported here at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery 29th Annual Meeting.

In the United States, the use of gastric banding is still "peaking," but elsewhere in the world it has largely fallen out of favor, said Michel Gagner, MD, in an interview with Medscape Medical News.

Dr. Gagner, from Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is a world-renowned bariatric surgeon who has established several bariatric surgery centers of excellence in the United States. He said he has virtually abandoned gastric banding, and performs sleeve gastrectomy in 90% of his cases.

His approach matches that of Luigi Angrisani, MD, director of the general and laparoscopic surgery unit at Giovanni Bosco Hospital in Naples, Italy.

Dr. Angrisani presented 10-year follow-up data from a prospective randomized trial comparing gastric bypass with banding, and said the evidence is clearly in favor of bypass.

"There is no point in doing further study comparing bypass with banding at this point," he told meeting attendees. "If you consider the revisions and the failures, only 26% of the banding patients had the band successfully implanted and a successful weight loss," he told Medscape Medical News in an interview. "That is not a nice result."

The study by Dr. Angrisani and colleagues involved 51 patients who were randomized from January to November 2000 to either laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

In the banding group, mean age was 33.3 years and mean body mass index (BMI) was 43.4 kg/m²; in the bypass group, mean age was 34.7 years and mean BMI was 43.8 kg/m².

Of the 27 banding patients, 3 had hypertension and 1 had sleep apnea. Of the 24 bypass patients, 2 had hyperlipidemia, 1 had hypertension, and 1 had type 2 diabetes.

Ten years after surgery, 81.4% of the banding group and 87.5% of the bypass group remained in follow-up, reported Dr. Angrisani.

Of the 22 remaining banding patients, 9 (41%) had had their bands removed, leaving 13 for weight-loss evaluation.

The BMI of 6 of these 13 patients exceeded 35 kg/m², so the procedures were considered "failures"; only 7 patients in the banding group were successful in losing weight, he said.

In contrast, of the remaining 21 bypass patients, mean BMI dropped from 43.8 to 30.4 kg/m²; only 20% of the procedures in this group were considered failures.

There were no deaths in the study, and improvement in baseline comorbidities was similar in the 2 groups. However, reoperation rates were higher in the banding group than in the bypass group (41% vs 29%).

In the banding group, reasons for reoperation were pouch dilations (n = 3), band migration (n = 1), unsatisfactory weight loss (n = 4), and untreatable reflux (n = 1).

Reasons for reoperation in the bypass group were potentially life-threatening, said Dr. Angrisani — internal hernia (n = 1), cholecystectomy (n = 4), and incisional hernia (n = 1).

"The complications of bypass are iatrogenic," he told Medscape Medical News. "There is inadvertent bowel injury during manipulation of the bowel. When you do banding, you do not manipulate the bowel."

Like Dr. Gagner, Dr. Angrisani has virtually abandoned gastric banding, reserving it for a select group of smaller patients. An analysis of the Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database (BOLD), presented separately at the meeting (as reported by Medscape Medical News), showed that from 2007 to 2010, banding and bypass surgery were performed in almost equal numbers in 540 hospitals in the United States (117,365 vs 138,222).

Europeans are ahead of the game, having started banding procedures before North America, and therefore detecting problems earlier, said Dr. Angrisani. "This is a very common story. While we as Europeans accept the messages from the US world of surgery, the US community does not accept data coming from Europe. So they are now living the experience we had in the last few years."

"It's a complete disaster, when you think that banding in the United States, based on the BOLD data, is the second-most common procedure," said Dr. Gagner. "Europeans are abandoning banding and the Americans are not getting the message. This abandonment that we see in Europe — we are probably going to see this in the next few years in the United States."

Although there is already a trend toward replacing banding with sleeve gastrectomy, lack of insurance coverage for the sleeve procedure remains a major barrier, he said. In the BOLD analysis, 21% of sleeve procedures were self-paid, compared with 5.7% of band procedures and 1.9% of bypass procedures.

"The European experience is more mature than the US experience with gastric banding," agreed John Morton, MD, from Stanford University in California, who reported the BOLD data at the meeting.

In an email to Medscape Medical News, Dr. Morton said that "although 6-year data for sleeve gastrectomy indicate that it is safe and effective, the potential long-term complications for the sleeve may not be fully apparent yet, and gastric banding may still be preferred due to it's favorable short-term safety profile."

Dr. Angrisani has disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Gagner reports being a speaker for Covidien, Ethicon, and Gore. Dr. Morton reports being a consultant for Vibrynt and Ethicon.

American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) 29th Annual Meeting: Abstract PL 103. Presented June 20, 2012.
 
My pct won't fund bands either, I went initially looking for band and the consultant said that they were not funded due to the high rate of intervention and problems afterwards.
 
I'm not going to comment on this other than to say weight loss surgery is a tool to help you lose weight.

If the patient is not prepared to committ to the lifestyle changes required to make their chosen surgery work - then it wont, end of! ;)
 
I agree Mazza, it has to be worked at. I think that in the case of the NHS they have seen that the follow up on bands is more intensive (ie expensive!!) than a bypass (generally) so mine have decided not to fund the band.
 
Every bariatric surgeon I've consulted with, all of whom do bands, bypass and sleeve have said the same thing. The band isn't as successful at the 5 year post-op point and the sleeve is so new that there are no longterm studies on it's efficiency and with ghrelin and PIY (hormones produced by the stomach) being recent discoveries, they are largely shooting in the dark with it longterm, though it can be of use in certain situations. I agreed with their science, the studies and rates play that out. Of course, I do think that 50 years in the future, all of these surgeries will look as barbaric as trepanning looks to us now. But for now, yes, I see their point that the most effective option is the bypass for those who qualify and are willing to take such a step. It isn't a matter of patient compliance but of, followed to the letter, the amount of weight lost, the amount kept off by the 5 year point and the cost of aftercare are all better with the one than the other. For surgeons, insurers and health authorities, it's not so subjective as it is for patients.
 
Many people succeed with the band, there the ones who stick to the life long plan. There is not 100% success rate with the bypass or the sleeve, if you eat crap food you will get fat again, bottom line.

Kim
 
They're not saying that though. Compliance is a variable but without that as a consideration, from a surgical point of view, this procedure has more post-op cost and complications and less predictable results so should be abandoned. Obviously, here, there are going to be folks who have had the band and are going to hotly defend it but from the medical point of view, it's a less optimum procedure for the operative goal of long term weight loss, that's all.
 
They're not saying that though. Compliance is a variable but without that as a consideration, from a surgical point of view, this procedure has more post-op cost and complications and less predictable results so should be abandoned. Obviously, here, there are going to be folks who have had the band and are going to hotly defend it but from the medical point of view, it's a less optimum procedure for the operative goal of long term weight loss, that's all.

That is what I was told by my weight management team.

The post op adjustment costs soon add up to the cost of a bypass and if there are any complications and the need to remove the band or replace it or change to a bypass in future doubles the cost of surgery.

You only have to look at "Just Liz" (2 bands and eventual bypass) to see why the NHS prefer to do bypasses and sleeves instead of bands.

I for one could not have worked with the band (too many sweets and chocolate) and I admire those that can and do make it work.
But with the NHS crisis as it is, saving money seems to be how they look at it
 
Wow that's going to put the cat amongst the pigeons. The banders on here have had amazing results. They are focused and dedicated and would have done well with whichever surgery they had. I didn't pick a bypass over the band because I didn't believe in it. It's just better for me being a type 2 diabetic. But its going to give everyone food for thought. I think the private sector will use the band for a long time to come. It's cheaper and they operate on patients with much lower bmi's and no co morbidities. It's still a good tool I hope the new banders see this research and make a fully informed decision
 
Wow that's going to put the cat amongst the pigeons. The banders on here have had amazing results. They are focused and dedicated and would have done well with whichever surgery they had. I didn't pick a bypass over the band because I didn't believe in it. It's just better for me being a type 2 diabetic. But its going to give everyone food for thought. I think the private sector will use the band for a long time to come. It's cheaper and they operate on patients with much lower bmi's and no co morbidities. It's still a good tool I hope the new banders see this research and make a fully informed decision

As a bander I'm used to seeing this type of 'debate'.

This research does not relate to UK patients. Also, even if this research was current ie the ten year study ended this year, things have changed over those ten years. Bands and their functioning components have been improved since the first was implanted in 1993.

The study states that of the banded patients re operated on:

3 - pouch dilation
4 - unsatisfactory weight loss

These cases would most likely of been the result of the patient 'cheating' the band - and themselves. Leaving 1 case of band migration and 1 of untreatable reflux.

The reasons for bypass re operations were stated as being potentialy life threatening and involved 6 patients.

I dont doubt that it could cost the NHS less to just bypass those who meet the (in some cases) rediculous criteria for funding but I do agree with yviec1972. Most bands here are fitted privately on patients with lower BMI's and no co morbidities and they do work.
 
I totally agree. I read the American forums and some of them are clueless about what they are having done and the life changes that come with with it. I worry that some people who go private don't do the research and therefore don't get the best out of their operation. The nhs guys have to really fight for their op and jump through very many hoops on the way. I think the bands are marketed as a quick fix by the private clinics. It can be an amazing tool if you know how to use it. Let's hope more potential banders make it here so they can be fully informed before taking the next step. The banders on here really are an inspiration.x
 
Data from patients banded or bypassed 10 years ago ... Is that truly relevant now given how medical procedures have advanced?

From a statistical perspective, unless you are to compare each procedure on the same patient ... Is the study truly reflective of the comparative merits/issues of each procedure given a sample size of just 51?

It's like making a sweeping statement, such as blondes have more fun ... Surely it's down to the individual ... :rolleyes:
 
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