There are various types of weight-loss surgery that can result in great reductions in weight. Unfortunately, many of these can result in permanent nutrition restrictions, which can make the enhanced dietary requirements of pregnancy impossible. Lap-band surgery, on the other hand, is adjustable, and the device can be adjusted to allow for pregnancy.
History
There are many kinds of surgery that are available for weight-loss. These types of surgery target individuals who, either through metabolic problems or due to issues relating to the time involved, are unable to lose weight via normal dieting and exercise measures. These surgical techniques work by restricting the stomach and other portions of the digestive tract, limiting the amount of food that the individual is can eat. This limited caloric intake allows the recipient to rapidly lose weight and keep it off in the long term.
Warning
One of the difficulties with this sort of surgery, however, is that a limited caloric intake can be detrimental to certain life changes, such as pregnancy. During pregnancy, both the caloric and nutritional requirements of the mother soar. Failure to increase one's intake both of calories and certain vitamins, particularly vitamins such as folic acid, can result in poor growth and various defects in the fetus, including problems with the brain and spinal cord.
Identification
Lap-band surgery, also known as laproscopic-band surgery, works to limit the volume of the stomach via an adjustable silicone band. This band is able to severely block off the stomach's volume, effectively limiting the amount of food that can be digested. Lap-band surgery has been shown to generate comparable weight-loss after a five-year period with gastric bypass surgery, another common, and more invasive, surgical procedure.
Significance
One of the advantages of lap-band surgery is that it is adjustable and, in fact, fully reversible. This means that the band can be loosened--or removed entirely--to meet changing nutritional demands. As a result, if a lap-band user wishes to become pregnant, the band can be adjusted to allow the increased food intake necessary to sustain an unborn fetus, with no growth or developmental defects. Most of these adjustments can be performed without additional surgery.
Expert Insight
Of course, lap-band surgery and any adjustments must be carefully supervised by a licensed surgeon. Anyone interested in receiving lap-band surgery must keep in mind that for the procedure to be successful, multiple follow-up visits are necessary to gradually adjust the band to sustain weight loss. This is also true for anyone wishing to become pregnant; the adjustments to the band must be performed gradually over several visits, to avoid dangerous complications that may damage the digestive system. As a result, anyone wishing to become pregnant should discuss it well beforehand with a surgeon, so that the lap-band can be gradually tweaked over a period of time. Until a patient has been determined ready and able to sustain a pregnancy, all lap-band recipients should be vigilant in their use of birth control, as the proper adjustments may not be able to made while a female is pregnant.
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