Gastric Banding surgery is performed by placing a band around the uppermost part of the stomach, thereby limiting the amount of food one can eat at a time. The band is then adjusted to increase or decrease the amount of food that the stomach can hold.

Gastric Banding surgery does not involve any stomach stapling. The actual surgery only takes 30 minutes to an hour to perform and usually only requires one day’s stay in the hospital. The Gastric Band procedure is reversible and adjustment of the band is done with a simple needle puncture.

After this weight loss surgery, our patients are first placed on a liquid diet and then on a high protein diet. Our expert nutritionist and medical staff carefully supervise these diets. Results vary, but patients usually notice weight loss in a matter of weeks or even days.

At Sage Bariatric (Formally The Texas Center for Medical & Surgical Weight Loss) San Antonio office, our band adjustments can be done using a fluoroscopy (x-ray) machine right in the office. Using fluoroscopy for adjustments offers several advantages:

• Easier port access- Most ports are easily located without the use of fluoroscopy, but if needed, we can use fluoroscopy to actually see your port so it can be accessed quickly.
• More precise adjustments- By having you swallow a few sips of barium, we are able to visualize fluid passing through your band. We can thus see how “open” or “tight” your band is. We can then adjust your band while you are drinking another few sips of barium, enabling us to actually see how tight we are making the band while we are doing it. This is a great advantage because you can get to the correct tightness more quickly, and it can help prevent over-tightening as well..
• Early identification of problems- While gastric banding is a very safe procedure, there are some long-term risks, including erosion or changes in the band position that can cause difficulty with swallowing. Using fluoroscopy, we can evaluate the position of the band with every adjustment, thus confirming all is well, or identifying problems early.

For gastric banding in San Antonio, call us at (210) 651-0303 or (877) 839-2716.