Thousands of people know how to lose weight and keep it off permanently with LAP-BAND® Surgery from Kansas City's own Weight Loss Surgical Center.
The LAP-BAND® System is a brand name for a laparoscopic adjustable gastric band device. The band is meant for people who are struggling with obesity, morbid obesity or severe obesity as described by a body mass index calculation.
Permanent weight loss with an adjustable gastric band can also help improve health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and other weight-related health conditions.
LAP-BAND® Surgery
The device is placed by a surgeon at our Kansas City LAP-BAND® Hospital during a 45-minute to one-hour, minimally invasive procedure. Using only a handful of s
mall abdominal incisions, the surgeon inflates the patient's abdomen, inserts a camera to watch his work, and then he wraps the band around the upper part of the stomach and cinches it - kind of like a belt.
The surgeon finishes the LAP-BAND® Procedure by affixing a small access port to the abdominal wall. It stays under the skin, so you don't see it. Later, our healthcare professionals will use a special needle to access the port and adjust the band's fit.
Most patients go home the day of their procedures, though some travelers may be asked to stay in the area overnight. Many people travel to Weight Loss Surgical Center's Kansas City LAP-BAND® Facility to have the surgery in a hospital designed specifically with the needs of obese patients in mind.
Many people bounce back from the surgery relatively quickly and most can return to light work within a week.
After LAP-BAND® Surgery
Don't expect to lose much weight in the first month after your laparoscopic band is placed. Many people think it will work right away and get disappointed. The first month is about healing from your surgery - not losing weight.
It is true, however, that most people who strictly follow the post-procedure diets of liquids, soft foods, leading up to regular foods, can lose weight after surgery.
After your body has had time to adjust to having the band in place, your local 
LAP-BAND® Fill clinic will meet with you about once a month to discuss your progress and adjust your band when it is necessary.
To adjust the band, our healthcare providers use a special needle to inject saline into the port that is under the skin on the abdominal wall. The saline travels up the tube and inflates the soft pillows inside the band, so they gently restrict your stomach opening. This makes food sit near the top of your stomach longer, making you feel full very quickly.
Some people feel proper restriciton soon after gastric band surgery. Others may take awhile before we can find the right fill volume for you. This can be frustrating, but it is important to remember that this adjustment process is what makes the band work on an individual, customized basis.
In the meantime, Weight Loss Surgical Center's healthcare professionals, located at LAP-BAND® Fill clinics throughout the Midwest, will use their expertise in weight loss to coach you on behavior adjustment and give you tips to help you create a new, healthier lifestyle.
Learn more about living with adjustable gastric bands
If you'd like to learn more about how to lose weight with an adjustable gastric band - either the LAP-BAND® System or the REALIZE® Solution - fill out the form to the right to take our free, online video seminar. You'll see video animations of the surgical procedure, and you'll hear from successful patients who talk about their band experiences.