Anyone have a salastic band added to their RNY??
So I would like to hear from those who had the silastic band in and are a few years out...How are you doing? Do they still put them in? I chose not to have one and am doing OK...
Also are there any medical peer reviews that can be shared?? PS And no, I'm not talking about the Lap Band...
Bariatric surgeons use gastric silastic rings in both gastroplasty and gastric bypass operations to maintain the function and width of the stoma. A silastic ring is flexible, but inelastic, so is particularly useful for this stoma-maintenance role.
In vertical banded gastroplasty, through the use of gastric staples, the stomach is divided into two sections - an upper (proximal) stomach pouch and a lower (distal) stomach section. A small gap (stoma) in the staple-line is left to allow digested food in the pouch to pass through into the distal stomach. Because the upper stomach pouch is so small (egg-size, compared to melon-size before the operation), the patient feels full very quickly and therefore calorie-intake is drastically reduced. However, because the muscular stomach wall has a tendency to stretch, the stoma can widen thus permitting greater food and calorie intake. To reduce this possibility, weight loss surgeons place a silastic ring as a sort of "collar" around the stoma, to prevent stretching and enlarging of the passage into the lower (distal) stomach.
The successful utilization of silastic gastric rings to control the stoma size in vertical banded gastroplasty, has led bariatric surgeons to use both silastic rings and Marlex bands in gastric bypass procedures, (eg. Fobi Pouch) to maintain the stoma size and reduce stretching. Ring circumference is typically larger than that provided for in primary bariatric procedures, so that their regulatory effect is only triggered after some degree of stretching of the pouch has occurred. A Silastic Ring Gastric Bypass with a 6.0 cm ring achieves equivalent weight loss to one with a 5.5 cm ring, but with better quality of eating, and less prospect of requiring ring removal. However, there remains a small proportion of patients in whom a 6.0 cm ring is poorly tolerated. For this reason a 6.5 cm ring should be tested.
Age at RNY: 55, Height: 5'4", Consultation Weight: 331 lbs-12/1/2009, RNY Surgery Weight: 281 lbs-3/22/2010, Goal Weight Reached: 141 lbs-6/23/2011, Lowest Weight: 126 lbs-12/11/2011,
Current Age: 61, Current Weight: 161 lbs-5/20/2016, Total Weight Loss Maintained: 170 lbs 
