Realize® Band Palm Beach, Florida

The Realize® band, a product of Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a Johnson & Johnson company was first approved by the FDA in 2007. Despite it being a relative newcomer on the US market, it was introduced in Europe almost 20 years ago giving it plenty of clinical data support. It competes directly with Allergan’s Lap-Band®, and according to the Realize.com website, has been placed in over 100,000 patients.

How it Works:

The Realize® Band works in the same way as other gastric banding systems. Dr. Vaughan will create five tiny incisions in the abdomen, through which passageways, or trocars, will be passed. These trocars allow the insertion of the medical devices, including a tiny camera and the band, which will be placed on the upper portion of the stomach and tightened to form two connected stomach chambers. The upper chamber, the smaller of the two, becomes the primary stomach storage, and because of its much-reduced size, limits the amount the patient can eat in one sitting. The band is then connected to soft thin tubing, which, in turn, connects to the injection port, affixed to the abdominal wall under the skin. The injection port is used to add or remove sterile saline from the band to tighten or loosen it respectively. Band adjustments, as they are called, are quick and generally not painful. They allow our office to change the restriction the band provides based on a patient’s progress after surgery.

Benefits of the Realize® Band:

The Realize® Band has virtually the same benefits of gastric banding surgery including:

• The potential for excellent weight loss and disease resolution.
• Adjustability after surgery.
• The band can be removed or revised.
• Costs may be lower than other bariatric procedures.

Risks and Considerations
of the Realize® Band:

The risks of the Realize® gastric banding system are almost identical to other gastric banding systems:

• There is inherent risk to undergoing general or abdominal surgery.
• The band will require more follow-ups than other bariatric procedures.
• Patients will have to live with an implant in their abdomen.
• Weight loss potential, especially in the short-term,
  is somewhat lower than gastric bypass and sleeve.
• The band can erode or slip, or the injection port can flip.

For a comprehensive list of benefits and risks, and to learn more about our practice, please attend one of our free monthly seminars.

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