A patient who had suffered complications after his gastric banding procedure was presented. A 202kg patient, who had his procedure performed in Tasmania, required multiple operations to repair an injury to his bowel which occurred during his gastric banding procedure. Whilst complications can occur with any surgical procedure, fortunately these risks are rare following gastric banding, well under 1%. The vast majority of patients undergo their procedure safely, especially when their procedure is performed by clinics such as OClinic that specialise in bariatric surgery. Obesity itself carries significant risks to health and well being, and shortens a persons lifespan. That is why it is acceptable for a patient to undergo weightloss surgery such as the LapBand, where the risks involved are far lower than the risks of leaving obesity untreated. A landmark study from Sweden (the SOS study) revealed that patients who underwent weightloss surgery had a 38% reduction in their risk of dying from cancer, and a 48% reduction in their risk of dying due to a heart attack compared with obesity patients who did not have surgery.
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