Where is my port after a lap band surgery, and am I able to feel it?

After a lap band surgery in Cypress Texas or lap band surgery in Houston Texas, bariatric surgeons and weight loss doctors inform their patients that their port will lie just under the skin on the abdominal wall. I generally place my patient’s ports on the left upper abdominal wall, but many surgeons use many different locations (e.g. under the breast bone, back side, right side, etc.). The important thing about port placement is really about making sure that it is well secured to the abdominal wall and cannot move around or become dislodged because this could lead to migration of the port and difficulty filling it later on.

Most patients are not able to feel their port, or if they do, it is not visibly apparent. If will be palpable to your doctor because he knows what he is feeling for, where he put it, and he must feel it to be able to access. Most ports are not visible when looking at the abdominal wall except in cases where patients loss a massive amount of weight and/or have plastic surgery. If this happens, the port can be changed to a relatively low profile port that will be less noticeable.