VERTICAL BANDED GASTROPLASTY WITH ADJUSTABLE SILICONE BAND - PRELIMINARY EXPERIENCES

A series of ten patients operated on with vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) with an adjustable silicone band at the outlet is presented. Th e loss of body weight and complication rate is evaluated. Preoperative mean excess overweight of the patients was 94% and mean BMI was 42.6. The loss of body weight at one year's follow-up was 38 kg or 59% of e xcess weight. Complications were one case of infection at the subcutan eous injection port and one case of a nonfatal pulmonary embolus. The results so far are thus comparable with VBG with a conventional fixed band, but the adjustable band actually simplifies the operative proced ure since no exact calibration of the collar size is necessary at the time of surgery and should diminish the need for reoperations due to m isalignment of collar size. The possibility of better weight control i n the long-term perspective remains to be proven.