Study: Body Contouring Decreases Long-Term Body Mass Index Index

CHICAGO – Plastic surgeons have become a key element of successful, long-term weight control for patients who undergo laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), according to a recent study.

These findings, which will be presented at Plastic Surgery The Meeting, the annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), Oct. 10-14, in Chicago, show that patients who undergo body contouring plastic surgery (BCPS) are more likely to maintain a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) than those patients who elect not to have the surgery.

"In a follow-up period of up to 15 years, the mean endpoint BMI of patients who underwent BCPS was 24.6 vs. 31 in those who did not," says Tali Freidman, MD, an ASPS member surgeon, and a study chief investigator. "This considerable difference may suggest that a LAGB procedure, together with BCPS, presents a safer yet effective option for specific high risk patients looking for a long-term massive weight loss."

While laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery is the safest reported method for massive weight loss, it is also the least effective, with 30 to 50 percent of patients regaining part or most of their post-surgery weight loss within 2 to 4 years. Recent evidence, however, suggests that plastic surgeons offer a viable tool to combat patients' weight gain: body contouring plastic surgery. A Geneva-based study published last year showed that patients who had undergone BCPS after the bariatric Roux-en-Y technique demonstrate improved long-term weight control in comparison to those patients who did not.

The current study, led by Dr. Tali Friedman, and Itay Wiser, MD, included patients who underwent LAGB surgery between 1997 and 2007, and who were between the ages of 18-50 years. The study compared the Body Mass Index totals and increases of LAGB patients who underwent BCPS and those who did not. BCPS patients had lower long-term BMI totals as well as lower increases in BMI overall. BMI is a number calculated from a person's weight and height, and is considered a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people.

The study, "Body Contouring Plastic Surgery Decreases Long-Term Body Mass Index Regain Following Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding, a Matched Retrospective Cohort Study," is being presented Monday, Oct. 13, at 11:15 a.m. at McCormick Place West in Chicago.

Reporters can register to attend Plastic Surgery The Meeting, or arrange interviews with presenters, by contacting ASPS Public Relations at (847) 228-9900, media@plasticsurgery.org or in Chicago, Oct. 10-14.