Bariatric Surgery

The most commonly performed bariatric procedure (weight loss surgery) for both adults and adolescents in the United States since 1993 is the gastric bypass surgery.  Weight loss has been achieved and the overall health of patients has greatly improved.

In 2001, the FDA approved the use of adjustable gastric band surgery as an alternative bariatric procedure for adults.  The adjustable gastric band does not cause malabsorption, but instead acts by restricting the stomach size to help patients reduce food portion size and caloric intake. The gastric band is adjustable to regulate food intake, and reversible in that the device can be removed as needed. It has the lowest complication rate of all bariatric procedures.  If complications do occur, they are less severe than those experienced by patients undergoing gastric bypass surgery.  The University of Illinois Medical Center’s adult bariatric team is among the leading gastric banding institutions in the U.S., having performed more than 700 adjustable gastric band surgeries. Our results show that this procedure offers effective weight loss and improves the co-existing morbidities at very low complication rates.