Weight-Loss Surgery Via Mouth
BusinessWeek, 11th August 2010
US doctors performed the first ever stomach reduction surgery via mouth.
Surgeons at the University of California, San Diego, performed a sleeve gastrectomy operation during which they removed 80% of the patient’s stomach.
The aim of such an operation is to make patients consume less food and allow a feeling of fullness quicker then previously. Patients lose generally two to four pounds a week after the surgery.
Surgeons all over the world try to find the least invasive methods of weight-loss surgery. Dr. Santiago Horgan, chief of minimally invasive surgery and director of the UCSD Center for the Treatment of Obesity said: “Our goal is to offer patients a customized long-term solution for losing weight with as few scars as possible, and if desired, no medical devices.”
The said operation required five small incisions in the abdomen to allow cameras and other instruments to enter the abdomen. Surgeons also removed a small portion of tissue through the abdomen and inserted staples to close the stomach.
Doctors say they are getting closer to the weight-loss surgery with no scars. There are, however, some questions that can’t be answered at this point as there aren’t any long-term follow-up data to confirm the effectiveness of sleeve gastreectomy as a stand-alone intervention at [or beyond] 5 years.
