Sorry to bring this up but...

[WormButterfly]

Does anyone know the rates of death from banding operations?

When I get t done I am told I have to sign a liability waiver regarding death.

That scares me a little bit but apparently its standard in Australia.

Did any of you have to sign something like this?

Does anyone know the rates of death from the banding operation from a reputable source or journal?

I know its a weeny percentage but I think I want to know.

Sorry and I didn't mean to scare anyone by asking this question.

[MamaMichelle]

The research I did said that 1 in 1,000 lap band procedures end in death but basically that is the same stats for someone going under ANY type of anasthesia. I also know that after over 6,000 procedures Dr. Ortiz has NEVER lost a patient!

[mona-camille]

I don't know if ANY deaths due to the lap band procedure. Gastric by-pass, yes. Many! Lap band, never heard of any and I have been studying this for 5 years. If there were any, they would have been from anethesia like Michelle said or something else not band related.

[Kittycat]

I believe that everyone has to sign a waiver or consent when they have surgery, it's standard practice.

I have not heard of any deaths related to lap band surgery here in Canada at all. If there should be any, it would think it would be anesthetic related.

A friend of mine had the duodenal switch surgery (more invasive than gastric bypass) a week before I was banded and unfortunately she developed a severe infection in her stomach approx. 2 weeks post-op, requiring 2 further surgeries, daily packing and she is still in the hospital today (5 weeks later). They cannot absolutely prove it was WLS related, but there is a good chance it was.

I believe as WLS goes, that lapband would be the safest. They do not cut your internal organs at all, so very minimal risk of internal infection.

Unforunately, we cannot dwell on what ifs in life...you take it as it comes and deal with it!!

Good Luck!