Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, the past, the present and the future.

The laparoscopic implantation of an adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) was first described in 1993. Thereafter, the LAGB underwent to a lot of modifications, revision and refinements to become as it is currently defined. This procedure quickly became one of the most common bariatric surgical operations in the world in the first decade of the 2000s but, over the last few years, it has turned into the fourth more common procedure. A series of more or less clear reasons, led to this decrease of LAGB. The knowledge of the history of the LAGB, of its evolution over the years and its limitations can be the key-point to recognize the reasons that are leading to its decline. The adjustability and the absolute reversibility characteristic of LAGB, make this surgical procedure a "bridge treatment" to allow the specific goal of eradicating obesity.