Outpatient laparoscopic gastric banding: initial experience

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) has usually been performed as an inpatient procedure with an average hospital stay of 2-4 days. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of LAGB as an ambulatory procedure in selected patients.

Potential candidates for ambulatory LAGB were recruited from patients consulting for obesity surgery. The main inclusion criteria were BMI >35 kg/m2 with co-morbid conditions, living within a reasonable distance from the hospital, and adult company at home. The patients were admitted at 0700 hours on the day of surgery, underwent laparoscopic placement of a Lap-Band system and were discharged home that evening.

9 women and 1 man underwent outpatient LAGB. Mean age was 36 (range 18-52) years and mean BMI was 38.4 kg/m2 (range 35.1-43.3). Co-morbidities included functional dyspnea (6), osteoarthritis (4), arterial hypertension (4), type 2 diabetes (2) and dyslipidemia (1). 7 patients had undergone previous abdominal surgery: cesarean section (4), appendectomy (3), cholecystectomy (1) and hysterectomy (1). All patients had an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification of II. The average operating time was 87 minutes (range 65-115). The mean time lapse between the end of the operation and discharge from hospital was 9.6 hours. There were no readmissions, and no complications were noticed at 1 month postoperatively. The patients' satisfaction with the ambulatory LAGB procedure was high.

The present study demonstrates that LAGB for obesity may be performed on an ambulatory basis without complications.