ABSTRACT
Obesity is a multifactorial disease process influenced by genetics, culture, economics, and psychological issues. There are various degrees of obesity ranging from overweight to morbidly obese. The notion that obesity represents a failure of individual willpower is unscientific and prejudicial. Identification of effective obesity treatment modalities continues to challenge clinicians, researchers, and industry. Obesity surgery stems from surgical weight loss identified in patients who underwent gastric and small bowel resections for treatment of diseases other than morbid obesity. Weight loss procedures have been performed based on malabsorptive techniques, restrictive techniques, and a combination of both. Early attempts at weight loss procedures based on properties of malabsorption did so via shortening the length of the digestive tract through which food was absorbed. In 1982 vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) was introduced. VBG is a restrictive procedure limiting caloric intake by reducing food volume. Laparoscopic adjustable banding was approved for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1991.
