A study has found that nearly half of a group of patients who received gastric band surgery for weight loss over ten years ago had the bands removed because of medical complications.
The study is the first to track laparoscopic gastric band surgery outcomes over a long period. The bands eroded in almost a third of the patients, and sixty percent went on to undergo additional weight loss surgery in spite of the bands.
According to the New York Times:–
“Researchers concluded that the adjustable gastric band surgery, which is growing in popularity in the United States, ‘appears to result in relatively poor long-term outcomes.’ The results ‘are worse than we expected,’ said Dr. Jacques Himpens … lead author of the new study.”
Furthermore, significant bone loss has been shown to occur in teens receiving gastric bypass surgery, the same result that occurs in adults receiving this more invasive type of stomach surgery. Researchers took bone density measurements every three months for two years after the teen’s surgeries and according to USA Today found that:
“Two years after the surgery, the bone mineral content of the 61 obese teens studied had declined, on average, by 7.4 percent.”
Resources:
New York Times March 24, 2011
Archives of Surgery
USA Today April, 2011
Pediatrics March 28, 2011
Posted By Dr. Mercola | April 15 2011
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