• Reduced surgical trauma and pain

• Less invasive for the abdominal wall (requires small incisions
  of 5 to10 millimeters) and for the stomach (no cutting or stapling
  of the organ is needed)

• Shorter hospitalization than standard surgery

• Respect of the anatomical and functional integrity of the
  stomach without by-passing portions of the stomach or intestines

• Individualized to the patient's needs via inflation or deflation
  of the band

• Fully reversible by simply removing the
  band.

• Approved by the Food and Drug Administration
   

By creating a smaller gastric pouch, the laparoscopic band limits the amount of food that the stomach will hold at any time. The inflatable ring controls the flow of food from this smaller pouch to the rest of the digestive tract. The patient will feel comfortably full with a small amount of food. And because of the slow emptying, the patient will continue to feel full for several hours reducing the urge to eat between meals.

As with any surgery, there are risks involved. There are also certain conditions that should be met before you consider laparoscopic band surgery. These risks and conditions are spelled out on Inamed's web site. Please take the time to review these.