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Table
of Contents - Sample Excerpts
Chapter
2: Development of the LAP-BAND!
It all started in the early
1990s as a challenge: could we develop a safe, effective,
and laparoscopic
surgical procedure for the treatment of morbid obesity?
Here, in detail, is the rise to challenge that led
to the development of the LAP-BAND® Adjustable
Gastric Banding System.
The advent of laparoscopy, the marvelous surgical
innovation that allowed for much less trauma in surgery
by making small incisions, inserting a camera and
instruments to maneuver about, and cutting and suturing,
is a great boon to banding. It was a dream come true.
Sometimes they refer to the surgery as keyhole surgery.
This revolutionized the way surgery could be performed.
The potential benefits to the patient were many:
less pain, faster recovery, smaller scars, and less
overall trauma, to name only a few. Though this new
technique was extremely promising, the procedure
was also technically demanding, so the prospect of
performing this type of surgery on morbidly obese
patients in a deep operative field, massive visceral
fat, hypertrophic and steatotic liver, combined with
inadequate instrumentation, created a particularly
daunting challenge. |
