Lap-Band AP^® Surgery

Lap Band Surgery, also sometimes called Adjustable Gastric Banding is a laparoscopic minimally invasive bariatric surgery in which the surgeon places a device around the top of the stomach. (Dr. Merriman only uses the Lap Band^®.) The Lap Band^® is a silicone device which has a balloon in it which can be inflated and deflated with saline, making the device customizable to the needs of each patient.  Tubing and a port device is attached to the device and placed just under the skin of the abdominal wall. After the patient heals from the surgery, that port is used to access and adjust the inflation levels of the Band. One of the benefits of this type of procedure is that this surgery is completely reversible as the device may be removed laparoscopically at any time.

The Lap Band^® works as a resistor requiring the patient to chew food more and to eat slower, taking 15-20 minutes to eat a meal.  This change in behavior assists in helping the natural hormonal and neurological messaging system communicate satiety to the brain.