Laparoscopic gastric banding surgery is a weight loss procedure. It mainly used on patients that have tried traditional methods of losing weight and have failed. The surgery is minimally invasive compared to a procedure like gastric bypass. The purpose of the surgery is to reduce your stomach capacity by placing a band over your upper stomach. This creates a small pouch that will limit the amount of food that you eat at a sitting. The pouch ensures that you get full easily so that you do not take a lot of food and pile up calories. The small pouch has a narrow opening that releases the food to the lower part of your stomach. Most people opt to go for a laparoscopic gastric banding surgery when they start developing diseases like Type II diabetes as a result of their weight. Your doctor will inform you whether you are a viable candidate for the procedure. Some of the questions that a patient should ask before having this procedure include: You should find out whether your doctor is certified to perform the laparoscopic gastric banding surgery. This is extremely important because any surgical procedure exposes you to side effects. When you have a qualified doctor, you can relax because they are professionals and understand what they are doing. If you have a surgeon that has no experience, you have every reason to be cautious. Always find out whether the doctor has experience in performing this type of surgery. Am I a candidate for laparoscopic gastric banding? There are different weight loss solutions. You should explore all the options based on your condition to find out what is the safest and most affordable option for you. Doctors use BMI to determine whether you are a candidate for this procedure. People with BMIs of over forty are the people that are advised to seek this solution. In most cases such people have also developed diseases like hypertension that can be cured with weight loss. You also need to ask yourself whether you can afford laparoscopic gastric banding. Check the provisions of your health insurance and whether such a surgery is covered by your policy before you embark on getting it. You should find an affordable hospital or surgeon to perform this surgery especially if you have to pay for the surgery privately. Once the surgery in performed, it is crucial to get the best after care possible so that you can recuperate in time. You should find out the type of care that you need. Some hospitals have special aftercare programs that patients can go through after the surgery. The healing period for this surgery is two to three days. It is important to get all the information that you need when getting laparoscopic gastric banding.
