ABSTRACT
The laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB) rst appeared in the early 1990s as the fourth step in a process of development of gastric banding occurring over two decades. The setting was of an expanding epidemic of obesity. Preventive programs were not proving to be effective, nonsurgical treatments generally had only a mild and transient effect, and the range of existing surgical treatments was unacceptable to the majority of those with the disease and to their physicians. There was a major clinical need that was unlled.
