A new study suggests that laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) patients who also undergo body-contouring plastic surgery (BCPS) are more likely to maintain a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) than those who opt out of BCPS.
The study, led by Tel Aviv, Israel, plastic surgeons Tali Friedman, M.D., and Itay Wiser, M.D., notes that the mean endpoint BMI of patients who underwent BCPS was 24.6, as compared with those who did not, after a follow-up period of as long as 15 years. The authors contend the comparison may suggest that an LAGB procedure, together with BCPS, offers a safer option for specific high-risk patients looking for long-term massive weight loss.
According to the study, while LAGB surgery is the safest method for attaining massive weight loss, it is also the least effective in the long term: 30 to 50 percent of LAGB patients regain part or most of their post-surgery weight within four years. However, a 2013 study showed that patients who had undergone BCPS after the bariatric Roux-en-Y technique demonstrate improved long-term weight control compared with patients who chose not to undergo BCPS.
The Friedman/Wiser study involved patients ages 18 to 50 who had undergone LAGB surgery between 1997 and 2007, and compared the BMI totals and increases of LAGB patients who underwent BCPS with those of patients who did not.
“Not much is known regarding the factors that influence a patient’s ability to preserve the new minimal weight,” Drs. Friedman and Wiser tell Cosmetic Surgery Times. “Our study basically aimed to empirically assess the difference between those who have or haven’t undergone BCPS following LAGB, and proved the importance of BCPS as a positive prognostic factor for long-term BMI preservation.”
The study’s findings were presented at Plastic Surgery The Meeting, the annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), held recently in Chicago.
