A recent study from the Archives of Surgery is shedding some light on how well stomach band weight loss surgeries are at shedding the pounds. The study looked at the medical histories of 151 patients who had received some form of stomach banding surgery at least 12 years ago. Over half(54.3%, 82 patients) needed some form of follow-up after the initial surgery. Patients experienced minor complications 22% of the time & major complications 39% of the time. Only a little over half(51.4%) the patients still had their stomach band in place, of those the mean weight-loss seen by them was approximately 48%. Overall, 60% of patients stated that they were happy with the results of the surgery, regardless of the fact that not all of them saw major results. Given the fact that many had complications & only half the patients ended up keeping their device, the study suggests that stomach banding surgery has poor long term outcomes.

It’s definitely food for thought for those who may be thinking of surgical measures to help them reduce their weight. While the FDA has approved stomach band surgeries for people with body-mass indexes as low as 30, surgery should still be seen as a last resort after diet & exercise options have completely failed.