Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding

Bariatric surgery is the only effective therapy for morbid obesity. Traditional surgical approaches, such as gastric bypass and biliopancreatic diversion, are accepted by less than 1% of the severely obese each year. LAGB has several attributes that potentially will enable it to overcome the community’s resistance to bariatric surgery. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) has proved to be a safe procedure, 7 to 10 times safer than gastric bypass in terms of mortality, and associated with few perioperative complications. It is highly effective in achieving good weight loss, major improvements in health, and improved QOL. Because of the laparoscopic placement, adjustability, and the easy reversibility, LAGB can provide these benefits in a gentle and safe way. LAGB has been in clinical use in Korea for 8 years and it is timely to look at the developments in technique and to look at the outcomes for safety, effectiveness, and acceptability.