Since the 60s a weight loss surgery called bariatric operations have been available but it is not until recent times that the procedures have become well- known. The celebrity, high-profile patients that have undergone weight loss surgery with successful outcomes have dramatically increased the number of surgeries sought in recent years.

Lap-band weight loss surgery involves placing a saline-filled lap-band around the upper part of the stomach to create a smaller stomach pouch, which reduces the stomach from the size of a football to a golf ball. There are no incision made into the stomach or intestines with the lap-band weight loss surgery, but the reduction in stomach capacity allows less food and feelings of fullness just like gastric bypass surgery. Doctors can also adjust the size of the lap-band, so while it can take lap-band weight loss surgery patients longer to lose weight than gastric bypass surgery, it will not include the cutting of major organs.

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Before laparoscopic weight loss surgery, ten to 20 percent of patients who had weight loss surgery required follow-up operations to correct complications. The most common complication requiring follow-up surgery was abdominal hernia, which the laparoscopic weight loss surgery technique has been able to solve. In the laparoscopic weight loss surgery technique the surgeon will make one or more small incisions to allow slender surgical instruments to pass through, eliminating the need for large incisions that results in less tissue damage and faster healing.

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