Sucess rates vs. failure\death rates

01-23-2005, 12:20 PM

Hello, I am new to this and not yet banded.
My husband has reseervations about me doing this, more so about the surgery complications. I am from Minnesota and recently there was a thing on The Early Show
about gastric bypass surgery and the complications. To see this article, go to http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/earl...n5002102.shtml and click on the gastric bypass surgery gone bad article. This really scared me, however, I seem to think that what was listed as risks in the surgery was that wich is in any surgery, such as a blood clot, pulmionary embolism, etc... Also listed was things such as a gastric leak, which with banding they do not cut the stomach. Am I right?
Does any one know of anyone who has died from the band surgery? I guess thats my big question.
Thanks for your input and I am so glad that I found this forum.
Schelski-mn

3labsrus · 01-23-2005, 12:26 PM

I haven't heard of anyone dying from the band. I also saw the story on the Early Show and they were talking about the RNY surgery. There are more complications involved with that surgery, not to say that this surgery doesn't have potential for complications.
Make sure you read up on everything, go to support groups and if you make the decision to have surgery, find out about your surgeon. How many surgeries have they done? What complications have they faced? How did they deal with them?
I wish you luck!

leatha_g · 01-23-2005, 12:35 PM

People have died who have had band surgery, but you are right. The stomach is not cut in this surgery. The people who have died were actually not due to the surgery itself persay. One lady in Detroit ignored very important signs of a complication and wound up dying AFTER she was home and did not seek help when she should have. There was also a man who had a heart attack on the table,which was not connected to the surgery at all. I believe there have been a handful of others who were similar situations. You can probably do a search on 'adjustable gastric band deaths' and see what that brings up. All in all, I believe we all know there is a risk anytime you go into the OR of just what you said, possible blood clots, anesthesia complications, underlying problems we didn't realize we had, there is always a risk of the surgeon nicking something by accident, but compared to the RNY, this surgery is far, far, less risky, not to mention there are very few patients who don't go home within 24hrs of having this surgery. If they do not, there is usually some comoridity problem that was anticipated before they even got there.

At www.obesityhelp.com you'll find a Memorial page with hundreds of names of people who have died from gastric bypass. :( I'm really glad we don't have one of those with the band.

claraluz · 01-23-2005, 12:46 PM

I agree with everything Angela said. Gastric-bypass surgery is a lot riskier than Lap Band surgery. The reasons for this are many: In that surgery, they do cut and re-route the intestines, which leaves the possibility of a leak - a serious and potentially fatal complication. As you suggest, there is no cutting of any internal organs in Lap Band surgery. There is also a much lower risk of embolism with this surgery because it is not as debilitating as gastric bypass surgery. Any surgery that leaves you in bed or immobile for longer periods of time - such as gastric bypass - has a higher risk of embolism. With the Lap Band, most people are up and about with little or no difficulty as soon as they wake up from surgery. I do not know the death-rate, if there is one, of Lap Band. What I have heard on this board is that there have been a few deaths which were not necessarily directly related to the procedure. I would recommend you go to www.asbs.com for more complete info. That is the site of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. They have good information on all of the bariatric procedures.

That being said, all surgery carries some risk. As a hospital worker, I have seen more than one child die from having a tonsillectomy due to rare complications from anesthesia. You need to decide that the risk of having the surgery is less than the risk of not having it before you decide to have it. If you are morbidly obese, this most certainly is true. Good luck with your continued research.

Nancy

Jammin & Losin · 01-23-2005, 12:52 PM

Nancy I don't believe you have put up the right wed page Itis something about building things in Ark. ?????I could be wrong ,but this is what I got???

claraluz · 01-23-2005, 12:58 PM

Whoops! Thanks for catching that! The correct site is www.ASBS.org.

Nancy

Jammin & Losin · 01-23-2005, 01:01 PM

Thanks Nancy! I will try this one!!

porclndoll · 01-23-2005, 01:07 PM

I am not banded yet....and the thought of surgery scares the dickens outta me. However....I have come to terms with the risks somewhat by this: A) Other than being morbidly obese *as if obese wasn't a clear enough picture* I am healthy...no heart problems, breathing problems, no diabeties now.......B) My little boy, 7yrs old now has Down syndrome and he has had several surgeries and had underlaying medical conditions when he had surgery (he had a hole in his heart when he was born...surgeries were for tonsils and adnoids, tubes in his ears twice..If he can do it I certainly can do it...If I can make the decision to have him put under anestesia, I can certainly make if for myself....and finally C) Being morbidly obese poses a LOT of major health risks. Diabeties which is breathing right down my back (I had it when I was pregnt and it runs rampid in my mothers family), heart attack (my father had 2 of them), certain cancers (also runs in my family), stroke (my mom had 2 strokes).......

So I guess what I am tyring to say is that I have weighed the option of surgery to not having the surgery and it seems that I could possibly face death with or without the surgery.

**Alexandra** · 01-23-2005, 02:20 PM

Contemplating surgery is very scary, I know. I think the anaesthesia is the biggest risk from banding surgery, and people are aren't facing it arequick to question the need. I know my DH struggled for a long time with the thought of my taking on the risks for something that wasn't "necessary."

Well, of course, it was necessary and I knew I'd be facing a serious situation at some point if I didn't get control of my weight. Deciding to have the surgery was easy once I realized that increased health problems were coming down the pike. Imagine all the people who face emergency surgery every day--people with serious health situations to begin with or who haven't had any time to prepare. If people like that can survive anaesthesia--and of course they do, thousands of times a day--then I'd be happy to take the risk when I'm in good health and can do what my doctor recommends to prepare. And indeed, recovering from the anaesthesia was the hardest part for me.

Lap Band surgery is, in most cases, less than an hour long. Surgical risks increase with the length of the procedure, so as surgeries go this is an easy one. Of course there are still risks, but going in with your eyes open and your wits about it will minimize them.