Is Lap Band Surgery Effective if You've Had a Total Thyroidectomy?

There is no effect of thyroid surgery on the effectiveness of Lap Band surgery. If you have had the thyroid gland removed you should be placed of adequate doses of thyroid replacement.

Thank you for the question. Assuming, your thyroid condition/levels are well controlled and you are otherwise a good candidate for lap banding surgery, your history of thyroidectomy is not a contraindication. In-person consultation with a surgeon specializing in bariatric surgery will be helpful. Best wishes.

The thyroid is removed either because it is functioning too much (making too much thyroid hormone), getting too large in low iodine conditions and compressing nearby structures (goiter) or in cases of thyroid cancer. All of these thyroid conditions have nothing to do with obesity or it's correction with Lap band surgery. Your anesthesiologist would need to know about the thyroid surgery just in case scarring distorts the direction of the airway. This should pose no threat to your lap... more