Originally Posted by maddy

I thought I read somewhere that only a certain level of overweightness can be handle with this procedure. I don't recall the numbers though. My sister had considered this but was to heavy and had the bypass instead.

Originally Posted by Dr George Fielding

There are though, patients for whom banding is not suitable. The first are those who have already had open obesity surgery on their stomach. This group does not do well with a band.

The second big group are those patients who are addicted to chocolate and fatty food, ice-cream and sweet drinks - these patients do less well long term with the lap band and I believe that the best first option for these patients is the bypass procedure.

The third group is those patients who have had a band who are unable to tolerate the restrictive nature and have converted to liquid food. This occurs in about five percent of lapbands and these patients are also suitable to the bypass.