Liver Question

[WWB]

I'm being banded on Monday 10/30. In my last meeting with the doc he mentioned that if my liver was too big he would have to stop as he does not open. I was nervous and should have asked him to explain but I didn't.
Does anyone know the statistics on how often this happens?

Thanks,

Warren

[Idahobeauty]

Warren, I found this maybe it will help answer your question.


The size and condition of the patient’s liver prior to surgical placement of the band is the primary safety concern of the surgeon. The left lobe of the liver is positioned over the site of the band placement and must be repositioned to allow the surgeon access to the site. An enlarged, fatty liver is common in the morbidly obese patient and can cause the surgeon difficulty during the procedure by obstructing the view or preventing completion of the procedure due to the increased risk of damage upon repositioning. 2

[WWB]

Thanks IB,

I also just found out that this happens only in 1.3% of all cases.
You would think that with all of the testing done they could know before the surgery is started that this is a problem.

[Kathy]

Warren, is your doc having you do a liquid diet pre-op? If so, this is primarily to shrink the liver before going in. If you are concerned, you could do liquids this weekend in preparation. Most folks who do the liquid pre-op do this for a week or two, though. I'm not sure if it would help at this point. Good luck Monday! Keep us posted, okay?

[dawg]

I think they are trying to avoid sending patients through an MRI etc prior to operation.

Furthermore the preop diet does given an element of cimmitment to getting the band. The "theory" is that if an individual can handle a three week pre-op diet without gainaing, they "might" be ready to change their life.

I scoff at that wisdoma as I've been on a LOT of three + week diets over the years.

The best plus of reducing the size of the liver is to help the surgeon. From my look at statistics on the operations, it appears (from reviewing individuals pre-op diets) that as the surgeon increases experience, so the pre-op / liver reduction diet decreaces.

That's just my interpretation of the data as I see it, so it could well be wrong.

The best advice is - take all steps to shrink the liver, commit to the lifestyle, and do all that is possible to avoid that 1.3%.

In my time with the Lap-Band community, I've yet to hear of any individual who got closed up for this reason.

Anyone who has suffered this?

I'm interested to know :)