First bariatric surgery in Korea was vertical sleeve gastrectomy(VSG) which was reported in Jan 2003. I started VSG with Marlex mesh banding in Feb 2003...
LAP-BAND® was approved by K-FDA in Aug 2004 and I have performed 80 VSG's till then. I'm one of the pioneers of bariatric surgery and LAP-BAND® in Korea.
Number of Morbidly obese people is increasing in Korea as well. more than 5~7% of adult population seems to be > 35 in BMI. (far less than United States though)
About 500 LAP-BAND® surgeries and 100 Gastric bypass were done last year in Korea.
This year number is anticipated upto 1,000...
As a korean doctor, writing a post in English is a little tough.
Throughout my career, I have been doing lapband surgeries mainly for Korean patients.
Early 2000's when I started to doing this, I got some informations from other website (www.obesityhelp.com).
Recently, Ken informed me about LBT and I just signed in.
Hopefully I can get further knowledges on how american band patients eating and living etc.