If you are considering getting a weight loss surgery, then Dr. Feiz and Associates can explain lap band vs. sleeve operations. Some lap band patients, including those of other surgeons, come to Dr. Feiz afterwards wondering about the advantages, and will convert to the sleeve.

Lap band surgery is a restrictive procedure during which an adjustable gastric band is placed around the upper part of the stomach. This creates a smaller stomach pouch, which restricts the amount of food that can be consumed at one time and increases the time it takes for the stomach to empty. As a result, patients achieve sustained weight loss by limiting food intake, reducing appetite, and slowing digestion. For those who have the procedure and do not achieve their desired result, our Dr. Feiz suggests lap band revision surgery. Increasingly patients considering this revision have chosen to get a sleeve gastrectomy, also known as the gastric sleeve.

In a gastric sleeve surgery, about 85% of the stomach is removed. A thin vertical sleeve of the stomach is created using a stapling device during the gastric sleeve surgery. The sleeve is about the size of a banana. This procedure limits the amount of food you can eat and helps you feel full sooner. It allows for normal digestion and absorption. Food consumed passes through the digestive tract in the usual order, allowing it to be fully absorbed in the body.

Since the lap band is added to the stomach, it’s important that lap band stay in place, and at the correct tightness. Certain stomachs and body types respond in usual ways. Some patients can find that the lap band has not stayed in the exact position desired, or that is has begun to erode or cause irritation. When this happens, some patients switch from band to sleeve, to continue their weight loss ambitions.

Dr. Feiz will educate you further about both procedures and what surgery may be best for your body.