The number of gastrointestinal surgeries performed annually for severe obesity has increased from about 16,000 in the early 1990s to about 103,000 in 2003. The frequency of these procedures has been fueled by the rise in the number of people who are extremely obese, the failure of diets, exercise and medical therapy; and the advent of laparoscopic procedures. Research presented today at Digestive Disease Week 2005 (DDW) evaluates the effectiveness of new surgical options for this population. DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians, researchers and academics in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

"There has been a great deal of progress made in the development of safer, more effective obesity procedures," said Christopher Gostout, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic. "Obesity patients who opt to have some form of bariatric surgery have a greater chance of long-term survival than those who choose to forgo a procedure."

Endoscopic Vertical Gastroplasty: A Novel Technique for Treatment of Obesity: A Preliminary Report (Abstract Sp743)

Current bariatric surgeries require accessing the internal organs through an incision in the abdomen. While this method has proven successful in the past, the introduction of a new technology currently used in treating gastroesophageal reflux disease is providing patients with an effective, less-invasive alternative to gastric surgery.

In this pilot study, researchers from the Hospital de Clinicas Caracas looked at the feasibility, efficacy and safety of endoluminal gastric suture, as well as its effect on reducing a patient's body mass index (BMI) and co-morbidities.

Ten overweight patients were clinically examined and their baseline BMI and comorbidities were recorded. All 10 patients underwent a vertical gastroplasty (in which an endoscope is inserted through the mouth into the stomach) using the bard endoscopic suturing kit to
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16-May-2005

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