Anyhoo, when I got the band nearly 5 years ago, I knew there wasn't a lot of data about long term results. At the time, it was hard to find more than a handful of people that even had it for more than a couple of years and even fewer that had been at goal for more than a minute (just sayin'). It bugged me for about 2 minutes because other options were not viable for me (the personal choice thing), so I was going with the band anyway.
This article has some data from the Netherlands. I have selected a few of the points here. I personally found them a bit SCARY when they are measuring success at 25% of "excess weight"! (Just being honest!)
Five years after surgery, about two thirds of patients maintained 25% excess weight loss. At 10 years the success rate dropped to less than a third (31%).Source of text
Using 40% excess weight loss as the standard resulted in a five-year success rate of about 50%, which declined to 20% at 10 years, Edo Aarts, MD, reported at the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery meeting.
"Action Points":
- Explain to patients that this study showed that weight loss achieved with adjustable gastric banding was not maintained over time in most cases.
- The findings were based on a retrospective review of medival records at a single hospital in The Netherlands. The findings' applicability to use of adjustable gastric banding in the United States is unclear.
- Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
My first question is how the heck is "excess weight" defined? I tried to figure it out - and to find the original abstract - but I got tired and gave up. So if anyone knows, can you please fill me in?
For now, I am going to say that "success" is a normal BMI rating (and yes - there is a whole new hoopla around whether or not BMI is worth a crap, but I'm going to leave that out for now) - so a BMI of 24.9 is a weight of 163 lbs for my height (5'8"). So, with a starting weight of 234 lbs - 163 lbs = 71 lbs. Twenty-five percent of 71 lbs is 17.75 lbs??? Hello, so essentially 216 lbs would make me a band success story??!!! Not in my book baby puppy!
And, if I get over that and just accept that is a success rating, then the numbers in this article are FRICKIN' SCARY! At FIVE years only 50% kept this amount off and this went down to 20% at TEN years???
November 2010, I will be 5 years out. I can, and will, guarantee you that at FIVE and TEN years out, I will not be TWO HUNDRED FRICKIN' SIXTEEN POUNDS!!!! I just don't know what to think of this article. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about data. I think that data is important, but this lack of defined "excess weight" that is being thrown around and what makes or does not make the band a success is quite troubling. The success numbers from this place in the Netherlands were this low for such a small percentage??? What else was going on at this clinic? What about aftercare? Etc. I'll be honest - SHOCKING!
But ya know what - it's information. It's data. I have a band and I am going to do what I am going to do with it regardless of articles and statistics. So anyone that is reading (and trying to understand my gobbledygook) please keep that in mind. Bottom line - it really doesn't matter which surgery you had - it's all what you do with it. *end of rant*
....And hopefully I haven't started a $hit storm with this, but I decided to risk it. Comments welcome...
3 comments:
This scares the crap out of me as well! The RN in my surgeon's practice told us in a pre-op seminar that, on average, banded patients lost 56 lbs (or 54, can't remember exactly) 1 year post-op. That really shocked me.
It is a little concerning, I'll agree. But, knowing nothing about what kind of support they provide their patients with at that hospital, I really do wonder at how much we can compare ourselves to it.
Oh yeah, I too love Melting Mama!
Thanks for sharing-- great information and I went into banding knowing that I might gain the weight back (I took it as a risk factor.)
Taking the gain factor into account-- I still felt it was worth it b/c being lighter for 5 years would be healthier than being heavier.
And I figured that I could always go in for another option-- weight loss solution research is on the rise and so continued progress is being made.
I don't mean to be negative at all-- I intend to use my band to the very best.
HOpe this makes sense and this was a very thought-provoking post!
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