Gastric Banding - 5 Year Study Results

Is the gastric band effective in patients with a lower BMI, in the range of 30 – 40? Recently, results of a five-year study which covered multiple centers, help to answer that question. Researchers wanted to examine whether the gastric band is effective in these patients. In setting up their study, the criteria for “effectiveness” was defined at least 40% of the people in the study losing at least 30% of their excess weight.

In the study, 149 patients had the gastric band surgery. They had follow up appointments over the course of five years, with six appointments the first year, four appointments the second year, and an appointment every six months after that. When they met with their surgeon and support team at these follow ups, each patient was assessed for both effectiveness of the gastric band surgery, and any adverse outcomes.

Now that the five-year trial is complete, the results show that gastric band patients experienced significant weight loss and beneficial health outcomes. The findings indicate that gastric band is indeed an effective weight loss procedure: 76% of the patients ultimately experienced an excess weight loss (EWL) of more than 30%. This far exceeded the benchmark of 40%. Additionally, the average excess weight lost was well above that benchmark of 30% since the average excess weight lost was 62% during the five years. Previously released data had showed after one year there was 65% excess weight lost, and at two years there was 70%, so these five-year findings make sense in light of those reports as well. Improvements in health were also found over the course of the study. They include 85% seeing improvement in diabetes, 64% seeing improvement in dyslipidemia, and 60% seeing improvement in hypertension.

If you would like to learn about your weight loss options, call CHI Memorial Metabolic and Bariatric Care at (423) 899-1000.