There are a number of different types of obesity surgery available to patients today including the reasonably new procedure of gastric lap banding which is growing in popularity and is rapidly becoming the favored choice for many morbidly obese people. But would you make a suitable candidate for gastric lap band surgery? In answering this question we will start by assuming that you are a suitable candidate for obesity surgery in general and that your only concern is whether or not you should consider lap banding. In simple terms this would mean that you are over the age of 18, are severely overweight with a body mass index (BMI) of over 40 (or in excess of 35 with one or more co-morbid conditions) and that you have already tried traditional weight loss methods (possibly including drug treatment) without any success. It is generally thought that people contemplating weight loss surgery are simply overweight and it is very easy to forget that people who are severely overweight are usually suffering from several other conditions, some of which arise out of the fact that they are overweight. It is the existence of these other conditions which normally creates an obstacle when it comes to choosing between different forms of surgery. As gastric lap band surgery is a form of restrictive surgery in which the stomach is physically restricted in size to limit the quantity of food which can pass through the stomach and digestive system, this form of surgery is probably not going to be suitable if your esophagus, stomach or intestine are in any way abnormal. Any abnormality might be either inherited or acquired and a typical difficulty seen is a narrowing at one or more points along the digestive tract. Problems with the esophagus or stomach that might result in bleeding (such as esophageal or gastric varices � a dilated vein) would also make gastric lap banding impractical, as will difficulties at the location at which the band would be placed around the stomach, such as an injury, gastric perforation or scarring. Problems may also arise if you suffer from any form of inflammation or inflammatory disease within the gastrointestinal tract such as ulcers, esophagitis or Crohn's disease. Finally, gastric lap banding is not considered suitable for pregnant women or for women who are considering pregnancy. If a woman becomes pregnant following gastric lap banding the band can be deflated to compensate for the increased nutritional requirement but, where deflating the band does not do the trick, the band could have to be removed. One advantage of gastric banding is that the procedure can be reversed and, if it proves necessary, the band can be removed returning the stomach to its original state. But, this can also be a disadvantage of the system. Motivation is the key to any form of obesity surgery but is a particularly important issue in the case of gastric lap banding. If there is any doubt about your determination to succeed then this form of surgery might not be a suitable choice for you.
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