Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass for Failure of Adjustable Gastric Banding: A Review of 85 Cases

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is the first bariatric procedure in Europe and is becoming more and more popular in North America. However, the failure rate at 5 years can reach 50%. Although there is still no consensus on revisional surgery, the trend seems to be in favor of conversion to gastric bypass (GBP) with encouraging results. The aim of this study was to assess the results, the risks of conversion into GBP after failure of gastric banding. From January 2003 to July 2010, 85 patients had a revisional GBP after failure of LAGB, performed by two experienced surgeons. Post-operative morbidity, functional results, and weight loss were analyzed. The conversion rate was 2.3%. The mean operative time was 166 min. The mean length of stay was 5.2 days. The early morbidity rate was 7% and the mortality rate was nil. The mean body mass index (BMI) at the time of LAGB was 47.2 kg/m(2) with the lowest BMI reached at 35. The mean BMI at conversion into GBP was 42.9 and the final BMI after a mean follow-up of 22 months was 34.8. Of the patients, 57.7% had a final BMI inferior to 35 and 15.3% had a final BMI superior to 40 and these were super obese and older patients. Super-obesity and advanced age appear to be factors of failure of LAGB and revisional GBP. However, conversion into GBP currently remains the choice procedure in case of gastric banding failure with satisfactory results and acceptable morbidity.