By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A form of weight-loss surgery called gastric banding appears safe and effective for severely obese teenagers, according to a study at one medical center.

The findings, published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, suggest that gastric banding could offer teenagers an alternative to more-extensive obesity surgery.

In gastric banding, or lap band surgery as it’s often called, surgeons place a silicone band around the upper part of the stomach to create a small pouch. This substantially limits the amount of food a person can eat at a time and slows digestion.

Gastric banding is performed via laparoscopy, a minimally invasive technique that uses small incisions and slender instruments. Once the silicone band is in place, it’s adjustable from outside the body; the band is attached to a port placed just below the skin, which allows doctors to tighten or loosen the band by injecting or extracting a salt water solution through a needle.

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