Home
The Gastric Band is a powerful tool that allows you to gain control of your weight.
If you have tried every diet and weight loss programme but have continually failed in your attempts, the Gastric Band could be the solution to your problem.
By joining the growing number of NOSC patients you can be sure that our professionally qualified team will give you the support and dedicated total individual patient care you need to achieve significant weight loss.
How Gastric Band works?
A Gastric band is an inflatable and adjustable band placed around the upper part of the stomach to create a smaller stomach pouch. By decreasing digesting space in stomach, it limits the amount of food that can be consumed at one time, thereby simulating the feeling of fullness and prolonging the time it takes to process and empty the food in stomach. With reduced daily food intake, reduced appetite and slowed digestion, patients can achieve substantial weight loss.
Modern medical technological advances ensure the gastric band is far less invasive than other forms of weight loss surgery. The Gastric band operation is performed using laparoscopic surgery through very small incisions in a patient's body. It usually results in a shorter hospital stay, faster recovery, smaller scars, and less pain than open surgical procedures. Due to the fact that the stomach is not stapled or removed, and the patient's intestines are not re-routed, people can continue to enjoy food as usual. Gastric bands are made entirely of safe and biocompatible materials, so they can remain in the patient's body without causing harm.
How to prepare for Gastric band operation?
When you meet the Obesity Surgery Centre's world class surgeons, they will give you the opportunity to discuss and ask questions about the risks, benefits and your possible alternatives. Based on individual circumstances, our surgeons will tell you about all the available options and the pros and cons of each.
Your surgeon will explain in details how to prepare for your operation. For instance, if you are a smoker, you will be strongly advised to quit, as smoking is a common reason for wound infection or a blood clot and it slows your recovery. Coupled with excess weight smoking can be particularly bad for gastric band surgery. Based on your BMI figure, our surgeons may give patients a preoperative diet to follow which is help reducing the volume of patient's liver. It makes the access to your stomach easier during the procedure. You may be given printed advice in the form of a booklet.
Due to the characteristics of Gastric Band surgery, general anaesthesia will normally be adopted. It means you will be asleep during the operation and will usually stay overnight in the clinic after the surgery.
Your Obesity Surgery Centre surgeon will evaluate your health conditions and advise you not to intake anything usually for few hours beforehand. It's important to follow your surgeon's advice.
At the clinic, NOSC nurses may check your heart rate and blood pressure, and test your urine sample.
Your Obesity Surgery Centre surgeon will discuss and explain in great details with you what will happen before, during and after your procedure, any pain you might experience and encourage you to ask any questions you may have in mind. Our surgeon will keep you informed, so you can give your consent by signing a form for the procedure to go ahead.
According to your personal circumstances, compression stockings and an injection of an anti-clotting medicine called heparin may be offered to you to help prevent blood clots forming in the veins in your legs.
What are the risks?
Because a gastric band operation uses laparoscopic surgery, it is regarded as a very safe approach to weight loss. However, in order to help you make an informed decision and give your consent, you need to be aware of the possible side-effects and the risk of complications.
The exact risks are specific to each individual based on their conditions, and will differ from one another. Your surgeon will explain which and how these risks apply to you.
Side-effects
Side-effects are the undesired but mostly short-term effects you may get after having the gastric band surgery. You may have some bruises, pain and swelling of the skin around the healing wounds.
Once your gastric band is fitted, you might feel or be sick after eating or drinking, especially if you consume too much too soon. We aill advise you to chew your food thoroughly, eat smaller amounts and choose easy digestible food, it will help reduce these side-effects.
