Intervention and Prevention
Obesity (2008) 16, 334–338; doi:10.1038/oby.2007.85
Safety and Efficacy of Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding in the Elderly
Luca Busetto1, Luigi Angrisani2, Nicola Basso3, Franco Favretti4, Francesco Furbetta5, Michele Lorenzo6 and for the Italian Group for Lap-Band*
- 1Università degli Studi di Padova, Clinica Medica 1, Padova, Italy
- 2Università Federico II, Ospedale S. Giovanni Bosco, Unità di Chirurgia Endoscopica, Napoli, Italy
- 3Università La Sapienza, Dipartimento di Chirurgia "P. Stefanini", Policlinico Umberto I, Roma, Italy
- 4Ospedale San Bortolo, Chirurgia 2, Vicenza, Italy
- 5Casa di Cura Leonardo, Chirurgia Generale e Laparoscopica, Sovigliana, Italy
- 6Italian Group for Lap-Band—GILB, Fondazione IDIS, Città della Scienza, Napoli, Italy
- *Members of the Italian Group for Lap-Band (Gruppo Italiano Lap-Band—GILB) are listed in Supplementary Data online.
Correspondence: Luca Busetto, (luca.busetto@unipd.it)
Received 21 March 2007; Accepted 12 July 2007.
Abstract
Objective:
Bariatric surgery is not usually recommended in the elderly. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) in older patients registered in the database of the Italian Group for Lap-Band Gruppo Italiano Lap-Band (GILB).
Methods and Procedures:
GILB is a centralized database which collects operative and follow-up data from 26 Italian surgical centers who utilize the Lap-Band System as a restrictive procedure. Patients 
60 years were selected from the database of the GILB and analyzed according to co-morbidities, conversion, peri-operative complications, and weight loss.
Results:
Of 5,290 patients, 216 (4.1%; 184F/32M) were 60 years old at surgery (mean age 64.1 
4.0 years; range 60–83). Baseline BMI was similar in both sets of patients i.e., 60 and <60 years of age (44.2 7.6 kg/m2 vs. 44.9 7.4 kg/m2). Patients 60 years of age were more frequently affected by co-morbidities than patients <60 years of age. Two cases of operative mortality were observed in patients <60 years old (0.04%) and one in patients 60 years old (0.46%). The proportion of patients requiring revision surgery was comparable as well. Weight loss was significantly lower in elderly patients. Despite their lower weight loss, patients 60 years of age experienced a significant improvement of obesity-related co-morbidities (they showed improvement 1 year after surgery in 100% of cases of diabetes or sleep apnoea, 67.1% of cases of hypertension, and 34.9% of cases of osteoarthritis).
Discussion:
LAGB may be performed safely in patients 60 years old. Weight loss in older patients seems unsatisfactory if compared to younger subjects. However, the majority of elderly patients show an improvement in obesity-related co-morbidities.
