Gastric lap banding surgery is a type of surgery designed to limit the amount of food you can take in. It is the simplest type of weight loss surgery and can easily be adjusted or even reversed.

In this procedure, a small pouch is created in the upper part of the stomach by wrapping a band around the stomach to leave only a narrow passage from the newly created pouch and the larger, lower portion of the stomach. Its effect is to reduce how much you can eat at a single meal.

This keeps the normal sequence of digestion and food absorption. Additionally, because the stomach is not cut, stapled or opened, there is less risk of infection. This is also the only type of weight loss surgery that is completely reversible, should need arise.

Some types of gastric bands are connected by a tube to a reservoir that is placed under the skin of the upper abdomen. In a doctor's office, small amounts of saline solution can be injected into the reservoir or removed to enlarge or shrink the band around the stomach. At Cedars-Sinai, we can do adjustments on this type of gastric lap banding even when the original procedure was not done at Cedars-Sinai.

A number of side effects are possible with this kind of surgery, including:

• The stomach can slip under the band, causing the pouch to distend and empty poorly
• Scar tissue can build up around the band and reduce the outlet
• The band can loosen and fail to restrict eating
• In rare cases, the band can penetrate the stomach

Patients are usually able to leave the hospital the day after the gastric lap banding surgery, but this depends on your surgeon's recommendation about your specific case.

You should return to your surgeon for routine postoperative care about a week after you leave the hospital.

At that time you should also contact the Weight Management Program at Cedars-Sinai to schedule your weekly follow-up meetings. After three months, your weekly meetings will become monthly. These meetings provide you with support from others who have had the same type of procedures and information from clinical dietitians and other weight management professionals.

You can learn more about gastric banding and adjustments in the "For Patients" section, Gastric Band Surgery: What to Expect.