Food and Drug Administration relaxes eligibility requirements for lap band surgery

Brand new lap band surgical procedure guidelines have been issued by the FDA. A lower body mass index will now be considered acceptable for patients whose health is threatened by obesity following an FDA review of lap band surgical procedure studies. Lap band surgery is a viable weight reduction tactic for 26 million additional people in the U.S. with the FDA guideline change.

Body Mass Index accepted for lap band surgical procedure went down

The new FDA lap band surgical procedure guidelines reduce the minimum body mass index to be eligible for the procedure from at least 40 BMI to 30 Body Mass Index. Patients with a Body Mass Index of 30, or 26 percent body fat, would be approved for lap band surgical procedure if diets and weight reduction drugs haven’t worked for them, and they have an obesity-related condition for instance diabetes or high blood pressure. A Body Mass Index of 30 would be given to someone who is 5-foot-9 and weighs 203 pounds. The upper portion of the stomach will get a ring with saline solution in it with the lap band, or the Lap-Band Adjustable Gastric Banding System. The amount of food eaten by a person during a meal is all that changes with the lap band.

What you should know on weight reduction surgeries

Sometimes people will confuse lap band surgical procedure with gastric bypass. This is an entirely different weight loss surgical procedure though. Gastric bypass surgery involves reducing the capacity of the stomach and bypassing a section of intestine to lower the caloric absorption of food. More weight is lost with the gastric bypass surgery. It’s riskier to do though. Within a few days of a gastric bypass surgical procedure, many with type 2 diabetes will lost the symptoms. With lap band surgical procedure, diabetes symptoms aren’t affected until the patient loses weight, which can take several months. There is another way in which the two surgical procedures differ as gastric bypass surgeries aren't reversible. The lap band is reversible though. In 2010 about 220,000 weight-loss surgeries were performed in the U.S. About 60 percent were gastric bypass operations.

Lap band surgical procedure effects

The lap band surgical procedure ruling in the FDA was changed depending on an Allergan trial which is a company that manufactures lap bands. There were 149 patients that had, for around 17 years, had a Body Mass Index over 30. The success of the trial was dependent on the numbers. After lap band surgery, 40 percent of patients had to lose at least 30 percent of excess weight. About 84 percent hit that target within a year and 65 percent were no longer considered obese and kept the weight off the second year. The patient's weight is monitored for five years by Allergan.

Information from

CBS News

cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/18/earlyshow/main20033327.shtml

Los Angeles Times

latimes.com/health/la-na-lap-band-20110217,0,6472853.story

Web MD

webmd.com/diet/weight-loss-surgery/news/20110217/fda-oks-lap-band-surgery-for-more-patients