The difference between the Lap Band and the Gastric Bypass

These two procedures represent two bariatric surgeries that were designed to help the patient lose a great amount of weight, but through very different methods.

Firstly, when you have a gastric bypass, the food is redirected so you do not ingest the same food quantity. The small intestine is cut and reconnected, so that there is not so much re-absorption. On the other hand, when having a lap band surgery, no food is redirected, but a port in introduced at the top of the stomach that does not allow big portions to be ingested.

During the day of the Surgery

Because it is such an invasive surgery that lasts for approximately three hours, gastric bypass surgery cannot be performed otherwise than on an in-patient basis and needs a three day hospital stay for recovery.

In contrast, lap band surgery is not an invasive procedure, so it can be performed on an out-patient basis. In one hour, the bariatric surgeon inserts the gastric band and patients can leave the hospital the same day, so no hospital recovery is needed.

How patients recover from bariatric surgery

You can see that these procedures and their effects on the stomach are different, this is why the time the stomach needs for healing is different. If after gastric banding surgery, you can return to your day to day activities after three weeks to one month, you need six to eight weeks to recover from a gastric bypass surgery. This is a big difference, but is caused by the fact that after a gastric bypass, the whole digestive system needs to get used to the new conformation, while after a lap-band only the port site needs to heal.

Diet after weight loss surgery

Food is a sensitive issue after weight loss surgery, no matter the procedure performed, as all patients need to follow a post bariatric surgery diet. The nutritionist at my clinic recommends our patients to have a three to four weeks diet so that the stomach port heals and they can eat solid foods. However, there is a difference between the two surgeries, as gastric bypass patients need more time to heal, so they need to stay on a pureed diet for more weeks than gastric banding patients, and then they can pass on to solid foods.

For a more detailed comparison lap band vs. gastric bypass, check out our website.