Experience of surgeon question

mrgrta · September 18, 2007

Hi. My surgeon has 14 years of experience with the RNY procedure, but has only recently begun doing LAP BAND. I think to date he has done 15 of them. My question is do you think it would be safe to have a surgeon perform this procedure who has only done 15?

Kat

WASaBubbleButt · September 18, 2007

I can tell you what I discovered in my own research before banding. I talked to a LOT of surgeons who had well over 1000 bands and I asked them what they considered experienced to be. They all said around 250 bands and they feel they were experienced.

There is a learning curve to banding, the band can't be too high or too low, it can't be too tight or too loose, there can't be too many or too few sutures, the sutures can't be too tight or too loose. After about 250 bands they had seen every weird anatomical issue, every bizarre thing on fluoro, they had corrected earlier mistakes... at 250 they felt comfortable with bands.

It's kinda like knitting and cross stitching. Just because you have mastered one doesn't mean you have mastered all types of work like that. You can master the others, but there is a bit of a learning curve.

The biggest issue I would consider is that if he has done so few bands, what support system is in place for you after your procedure? Are you going to attend the RNY support groups? They have vastly different issues to deal with than we do. The two just don't compare.

When I had surgery I really felt like this was my last chance to lose weight and keep it off. I wanted every bloody advantage there was so I picked a surgeon with a great deal of experience and a good "banding" support group in place. There are plenty of surgeons that are already experienced so is there really a need to go to someone who is smack in the middle of the banding learning curve?

Just my thoughts on the topic.

Wendell Edwards · September 18, 2007

Hi. My surgeon has 14 years of experience with the RNY procedure, but has only recently begun doing LAP BAND. I think to date he has done 15 of them. My question is do you think it would be safe to have a surgeon perform this procedure who has only done 15?
Kat

My personal opinion is that I would NOT trust my life to someone on a learning curve.