by Rodolfo N. Lentejas, Jr.

Created on: February 05, 2010

Binding the stomach using a lap band is another way of losing weight. It is preferred by many because it does not require cutting any part of the digestive organs as compared to gastric bypass. Using a lap band, the stomach is being tied to create a smaller upper stomach called “pouch”.

The lap band aims at slowing the passage of food from the smaller stomach to the larger one. When food reaches the smaller stomach, the person immediately feels full just by eating a small amount of food. No matter how effective this may seem, using a lap band also has its downsides and one of this is lap band slippage.

When the lap band has slipped, your aim to lose weight might be totally ruined as the slippage might result to a larger pouch which allows you to eat more, or, in another case, you might have a difficulty in drinking and eating. You might also experience some inconveniences such as nausea, heartburn and vomiting. Thus, detecting early on whether your lap band has slipped might save you from a more complicated treatment such as completely removing the lap band and placing it again or, in extreme cases, removing the upper portion of your stomach.

Two kinds of slippage: anterior and posterior

There are two kinds of band slippage: the anterior slippage and the posterior slippage. The anterior slippage happens when the front of the stomach slips up through the band. The posterior slippage, on the other hand, happens when the back of the stomach slides up through the band. The posterior slippage usually happens when the lap band was placed through perigastric technique. But this technique is now rarely being used as pars flaccida technique was developed to prevent posterior slippage.

So do you know if your Lap-Band has slipped?

It is actually easy to determine whether your lap band has slipped. The following tips may help you discover if your Lap-Band has slipped:

If you have no digestive or stomach problem for a period of time and suddenly your experience acid reflux or feel the tightening of your stomach, your lap has most likely slipped.

If you can eat more than before without feeling full. This may mean that the pouch has already been loosened, as a portion of the larger stomach has already slipped up through the band.

As mentioned earlier, you may experience nausea, vomiting, heartburn and difficulty in swallowing.

If you have been experiencing these symptoms consult your surgeon immediately. He or she will simply have you undergo an X-ray and barium swallow examinations to confirm the diagnosis.

When it is confirmed that your lap band has slipped, treatment can be immediately applied by your surgeon, depending on the seriousness of the slippage. For a mild slip, the surgeon usually deflates the band and reinflates it one to two weeks later. For moderate slip, there will be a need to deflate the band and reposition it. For severe slip, there may be a need to deflate the band and remove it from your stomach and place a new one, and, as mentioned earlier, in extreme cases, there may be a need to remove a portion of the stomach.

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