The type of bariatric surgery called Lap-Band involves applying a prosthesis around the stomach to create a small gastric pouch. By creating a smaller gastric pouch, the Lap-Band limits the amount of food that the stomach will hold at any time do that the patient will feel comfortably full with a small amount of food. Because of the slow emptying, the patient will continue to feel satiated for several hours reducing the urge to eat between meals. In a 2006 case, a patient, a young girl, was unable to keep down certain foods after her surgery. The girl's parents brought her to the physician's office and each time was seen by a staff member and the Lap-Band was adjusted. The situation escalated to the point where the girl was rushed to the ER. Endoscopy surgery revealed that the band had migrated to around the esophagus and some tissue was then permanently damaged.
