Laparoscopic Gastric Banding: preliminary series.

Gastric banding as a laparoscopic procedure was performed on 40 morbidly obese patients. This operation matches the advantages of the gastric banding (efficacy, reversibility and low invasivity) with the advantages of the laparoscopic procedure (low surgical risk, short hospital stay and less complications in the short and long term). The maximum follow-up is 6 months and so far the weight loss results are the same as we obtained by the vertical banded gastroplasty of Mason. The greatest problem of laparoscopic gastric banding is to get the right tightness of the band for a stoma of 12-13 mm. In three patients the band was replaced due to stenosis, in two of them by a laparoscopic procedure. The adjustable band of Kuzmak should exclude the risk of stenosis and its use will be tried by the laparoscopic procedure.