Effective, Adjustable,
and Safe Weight‑Loss with
The Lap‑Band® Program
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Join the over 1,000,000 people worldwide who have chosen the Lap‑Band® Program to achieve lasting, healthy weight loss.
The Lap-Band® Program helps you take control over your weight. Only the Lap-Band can be tightened or loosened as your physical needs change, helping to provide sustainable and long-term weight loss. The Lap-Band features a flexible band positioned around your upper stomach to help limit your food intake and promote your feeling of fullness. With regular adjustments that help you continue losing weight, you will have more power over your hunger and more control over your weight than ever before.
The Lap-Band gives you control over your body too, because it is the safest weight-loss surgery available. The Lap-Band procedure does not require any sort of re-routing of the anatomy, cutting, or stapling. The procedure is typically performed in less than an hour, and you can usually return home the same day with a gentler recovery duration than other kinds of weight-reduction surgeries.
Why We Are Different
The patient care at Dr. Baptista’s Weight Loss Center before, during and after surgery is second to none. The practice uses state-of-art equipment to evaluate and properly optimize patient’s success. Dr. Baptista doesn’t just operate on his patients, he takes care of them. He oversees the details related to patient care. His patients are provided with his personal cellular phone number in case they need to contact him with any questions or needs related to their weight loss operation.
This provides a “peace of mind to the patients and to me,” he says. “Knowing my patients are well is important to me as much it is to them, and their families.”
Compare Bariatric Surgeries
THE LAP-BAND
SAFEST AND REVERSIBLE
During the Lap-Band Procedure, a Gastric Band is placed around your stomach in the course of a minimally invasive, outpatient laparoscopic surgery. The band limits the amount of food you can eat to help you feel full sooner and longer. The Lap-Band is both removable and adjustable—when your needs change, it changes. Even if you are considering other bariatric surgeries, start your journey with Lap-Band.
SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY
PARTIAL STOMACH “AMPUTATION”
Sleeve Gastrectomy removes 80% of the stomach, and what’s left behind is roughly the size of a banana. This helps patients lose weight by limiting the capacity of their stomachs; however, this bariatric surgery is irreversible and involves cutting and stapling of the stomach. Patients who undergo sleeve gastrectomy are at risk for malnutrition and require long-term supplements and vitamins to avoid possible deficiencies.
GASTRIC BYPASS
CUTS AND RE-ROUTES ORGANS
Gastric bypass is a restrictive procedure that limits the capacity of your stomach and alters the way nutrients are absorbed. It not only reduces the size of your stomach, but it also reroutes your small intestines and digestive tract. Hundreds of staples are used in this procedure. Patients who undergo gastric bypass are at risk for malnutrition and require long-term supplements and vitamins to avoid possible deficiencies.
Elmore’s Experience
Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, Elmore shares his experience about his illness and the effect that Lap-Band surgery has had on returning him to health
The Premier Lap-Band Center In Jacksonville, Florida

Dr. Baptista specializes in weight loss surgery and management of the patients before and after surgery. He understands the multifactorial problem of obesity, and the surgical options for it. He has had extensive training in weight loss surgery with focus in minimally invasive surgery having performed thousands of weight loss surgery procedures. Besides his general surgery and bariatric surgery training he also did a fellowship in Robotic Surgery, and Minimally Invasive Surgery.
Dr. Baptista is a published author in the field and has given many courses, both on how to perform bariatric surgery, and how to follow up with patients afterwards.
The Weight Loss
Solution For You.
The Lap-Band® Program includes customized counseling, coaching, and nutritional education, to help support the lifestyle changes you need to keep the weight off over time. The Lap-Band is the only FDA approved laparoscopic weight-loss device commercially available in the United States. It is endorsed by leading surgeons, covered by most insurance companies and backed by over 25 years of clinical evidence.
Significant Results in 1 Year
The Lap-Band® Program is proven to provide an average of 46% excess weight loss at one year. It’s an effective way to lose weight gradually and keep it off long-term.
Does Not Alter Anatomy
A minimally-invasive procedure places the band around your stomach to reduce the amount of food that you can eat at one time. No partial “amputation” of the stomach is required.
Life-Changing Transformations
On average, patients kept off 60% of their excess body weight after five years of having the Lap-Band®.
Renewed Health
Weight loss following the Lap-Band® Procedure has been shown to improve or resolve serious weight-related medical conditions, such as diabetes and asthma.
Watch this FREE Online Seminar to Learn About The Weight-Loss Solution that is Safer.Smarter.Lasting.
Effective. Long-term, sustainable weight loss recognizes that your life and circumstances will change over time. Because your band can be tightened or loosened as your body or your physical needs change, the Lap-Band® Program helps provide sustainable weight loss over the long-term. On average, patients have kept off 60% of their excess body weight after 5 years.
Adjustable. The Lap-Band helps you take control over your weight, because only the Lap-Band can be tightened or loosened as your body or your physical needs change over time, helping to provide sustainable weight loss over the long-term. The Lap-Band Program is the only bariatric option that can be customized for your life, today and tomorrow.
Safe. The Lap-Band Program does not partially “amputate” any part of the gastrointestinal anatomy. It is a laparoscopic procedure that allows most patients to be home on the same day. Patients also find the procedure helps improve or resolve serious weight-related medical conditions, like diabetes or asthma.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Important Lap-Band® System Safety Information
The Lap-Band System is indicated for weight reduction for patients with obesity, with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 40 kg/m2 or a BMI of at least 30 kg/m2 with one or more obesity-related comorbid conditions. It is indicated for use only in adult patients who have failed more conservative weight reduction alternatives, such as supervised diet, exercise and behavior modification programs. Patients who elect to have this surgery must make the commitment to accept significant changes in their eating habits for the rest of their lives.
The Lap-Band System is not recommended for non-adult patients, patients with conditions that may make them poor surgical candidates or increase the risk of poor results, who are unwilling or unable to comply with the required dietary restrictions, or who currently are or may be pregnant.
The Lap-Band System is a long-term implant. Explant and replacement surgery may be required. Patients who become pregnant or severely ill, or who require more extensive nutrition may require deflation of their bands. Anti-inflammatory agents, such as aspirin, should be used with caution and may contribute to an increased risk of band erosion.
Placement of the Lap-Band System is major surgery and, as with any surgery, death can occur. Possible complications include the risks associated with the medications and methods used during surgery, the risks associated with any surgical procedure, and the patient’s ability to tolerate a foreign object implanted in the body. Most common related adverse events include: Band slippage, pouch dilation, stoma obstruction, gastroesophageal reflux, esophageal dilation, cholelithiasis, incisional infection, abdominal pain, gastroenteritis, or nausea and vomiting may occur. Reoperation may be required. Rapid weight loss may result in complications that may require additional surgery. Deflation of the band may alleviate excessively rapid weight loss or esophageal dilation.
Important: For full safety information please click here or talk with your doctor.
CAUTION: Rx only.