Article summary: An overview of the REALIZE™ Adjustable Gastric Band by Johnson and Johnson. Product history, FDA status and more.

The popularity of weight loss surgery has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years. So whenever a product comes along with the potential to change the weight loss surgery industry, it gets a lot of people’s attention. Such is the case with the Realize ™ Band by Johnson and Johnson.

About the Realize Adjustable Gastric Band

Terminology note: For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to this product as the Realize Band throughout the rest of this article. All such references refer to the REALIZE™ Adjustable Gastric Band manufactured by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. (a Johnson and Johnson company).

The Realize Band is a type of adjustable gastric band developed by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., a Johnson and Johnson company. Like other gastric banding products, the Realize Band is placed around the upper part of the patient’s stomach in laparoscopic / minimally invasive fashion.

The Realize Band has actually been available outside of the United States for over a decade, though it went by the name Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band (SAGB). To date, more than 100,000 patients have used the Realize Gastric Band as a path to surgical weight loss.

The Realize Band Gets FDA Approval

Until recently, the Realize Band was not an FDA-approved product. But that has recently changed. In September of 2007, the FDA approved the Realize Band for medical use within the United States.

According to the FDA’s approval letter, the Realize Band is “a surgically implanted device used to help a person lose weight. The REALIZE™ Band consists of a silicone band, tubing, and an injection port.”

They go on to explain how the Realize Gastric Band works:

“During the surgical procedure, the REALIZE™ Band is placed around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small stomach pouch that can hold only a small amount of food. … The band helps the person eat less by limiting the amount of food that can be eaten at one time and increasing the time it takes for food to be digested. The size of the band can be adjusted during a doctor’s office visit by adding or removing fluid from within the band via the injection port and tubing.”

The Realize Band is manufactured and marketed by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., who in a recent press release said the following about their gastric banding product:

“In a gastric band procedure with the REALIZE Band a soft, adjustable silicone band is wrapped around the stomach to create two chambers – a small upper stomach with a narrow opening to the lower stomach. After the procedure, the upper stomach can only hold about four ounces of food, which limits food intake, makes patients feel full faster and longer, and slows digestion.”

You can learn more about the Realize Adjustable Gastric Band at the official product website.