Study Questions Safety and Efficacy of Gastric Band Surgery

Reoperation among patients who undergo gastric band surgery (GBS) is common, raising concerns about the safety and effectiveness of the procedure, according to a recent study.

Short-term studies have reported reoperation rates among patients who undergo GBS as between 4% and 60%, but few long-term analyses have been conducted, according to the researchers.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Gastric Bypass Cuts Heart Attack Risk in Diabetes
CV Improvements After Gastric Bypass Start Before Weight Loss Begins
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For their study, they reviewed data from 25,042 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent GBS between 2006 and 2013, examining rates of reoperation, including device removal or replacement or revision to another bariatric procedure.

Of the 25,042 patients who underwent GBS, 4636 (18.5%) underwent 17,539 reoperations (average 3.8 operations per patient). Those who underwent reoperations had lower rates of hypertension and diabetes. Medicare paid $470 million for GBS procedures during the study period, of which $224 million was for reoperations.

“Reoperations after a gastric band placement are common and costly and raise concern about the safety, effectiveness, and value of the device,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Ibrahim AM, Thumma JR, Dimick JB, et al. Reoperation and medicare expenditures after laparoscopic gastric band surgery [published online May 17, 2017]. JAMA Surg. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2017.1093.