For most patients contemplating obesity surgery, the choice is between gastric banding and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGBP).
There are important differences between these two obesity surgery procedures and each has its relative advantages and disadvantages.
The gastric band is certainly the safer of the two options, though in good hands the risks are really not that much different. The gastric band does not involve any permanent alteration in the anatomy of the digestive tract and is easily reversible, whereas RYGBP gastric bypass surgery is to all intents and purposes, irreversible.
The main advantages/disadvantages of each of these obesity surgery procedures is shown here:
