While the Lap Band has worked well for countless obese patients who were previously unable to lose weight, others find that the complications or necessary behavioral modifications are not worth the weight loss. Others are simply finding that the band isn’t helping them lose weight. These patients often look into getting a lap band removal, and those who do are still burdened by the memory of their unsuccessful weight loss surgery. But now, thanks to surgeons like Dr. Michael Feiz who have become experts at performing lap band revision surgery , these spurned patients can finally move past the failures of the past with a successful gastric sleeve procedure.

While there are many differences when considering the lap band vs. sleeve, the most important to many patients is that the sleeve does not require implanting a foreign object into the body, lessening the chance of complications in the months and years after surgery. While Lap Bands need to be intermittently adjusted, the sleeve simply becomes the new normal.

It is important for people to realize that the sleeve represents an entirely new hope for weight loss success, rather than just another attempt at the same thing. Another advantage of the band to sleeve surgery with Dr. Feiz is that the sleeve gastrectomy also has an added hormonal advantage because it reduces the amount of ghrelin that is released to the brain. Ghrelin is a hunger causing hormone that the stomach releases when it is empty. One consequence of the stomach reduction process is that it also reduces the amount of ghrelin that enters into the bloodstream, therefore reducing cravings. So, whatever a person’s qualms with the gastric band, they can likely be resolved with a sleeve procedure from Dr. Feiz.