A slipped Lap-Band shows up on an X-ray.
A Lap-Band is an adjustable silicone band that is placed around the stomach to limit the amount of food a patient can eat in order to facilitate weight loss. Sometimes, however, the band slips out of place. More often, when doctors say a patient has a slipped Lap-Band, what they really mean is that the stomach has slipped up above the band.
External Appearance
A slipped Lap-Band cannot be seen on the outside of the body. The patient's abdomen appears normal even when the band has slipped.
Internal Appearance
If you could look inside the patient's abdomen, you would see a bulge above the band if the band had slipped. You might also see that the band had become twisted.
Anterior Slippage
Anterior Lap-Band slippage occurs when the front part of the stomach slips up over the band. Then the bulge would be seen at the front of the stomach.
Posterior Slippage
Posterior Lap-Band slippage occurs when the back part of the stomach slips up over the band. Then the bulge would be seen at the back of the stomach. Posterior slippage does not occur very often these days, though, because of the surgical techniques now used. It was more common in the 1990s.
Looking for a Slipped Band
To look for a slipped Lap-Band, doctors use an upper GI series X-ray. The patient drinks a barium solution while X-rays are taken and the slipped band shows up on the X-ray.
