June 3, 2010

Banding Together

Clinicians take a multi-disciplinary approach to fighting obesity

By Frank Fraiser

A lot can change at high altitudes. For David G. Davtyan, MD, FACS, FICS, the thin air at the 2001 Minimally Invasive Surgery Symposium (MISS) in Snowbird, Utah, caused him to become short of breath. He called his wife and gasped, “My fat is taking over my lungs!”

Davtyan had gradually reached a size that was causing him to tire easily, but because he was successful in his career and personal life, he wasn’t ashamed of his weight. It wasn’t until he attended an MISS presentation given by Guy-Bernard Cadiere, MD, PhD, on laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding that Davtyan considered undergoing the procedure.