The Mayo Clinic doctors introduced a new procedure on May 22, 2014 ,that will help their patients lose weight. The new procedure, Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty, is a two-hour outpatient surgery for overweight patients who need to lose up to 40 pounds. Mayo Clinic doctors Dr. Barhma Abu Dayyeh and Dr. Christopher Gostout started the clinical trial in 2012 with just 10 patients. One qualifying patient was Cherish Grabau who lost 40 pounds fairly quickly after the procedure.
Grabau met the qualifications for the Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty procedure, which included a BMI of 30-35. Candidates for this procedure are not morbidly obese or those who won’t qualify for gastric bypass surgery. This new procedure is targeted at individuals who are overweight and looking to change their lifestyle and to prevent comorbidities from occurring as a result of excess weight on the body.
About the Surgery
The endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty procedure constricts the stomach without any surgery. A mechanical suturing device is placed at the end of an endoscope that is small enough to fit through the esophagus itself. This flexible medical instrument threads itself through the body to the stomach where sutures are reshaped to form a sleeve. This will constrict the stomach from giving the recipients of this procedure a feeling of being full sooner and for a longer period of time. Patients must undergo a screening process and nutrition counseling for weeks before going under sedation with general anesthesia for this minimally-invasive procedure.
It’s important to understand that this procedure is not a miracle cure; patients still must do a lot of work and take responsibility for their health. It takes will power to stand up and say that one is on the wrong path and want to stop the destruction before it damages too much of their body.
According to the doctors, this procedure differs from gastric bypass surgery because it can be reversed, repeated and adjusted according to each patient’s needs. They also mention that the procedure itself is much easier to perform, which allows them to treat many more patients and to prevent the inevitable. The procedure itself, the doctors say, give them a signal where they can go back in and tighten things up or remodify the sleeve itself.
According to the report, the new procedure will cost about $10,000 or about ¼ of the cost of traditional gastric bypass surgery. Dr. Gostout and Dr. Dayyeh have trained doctors in places such as Texas, California, Miami, Boston and St. Louis on how to perform this preventative procedure.
Could you tell me where Dr. Gostout and Dr. Dayyeh received their training? Also, I have read that some have now received the Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty in Mexico, with a cost of $5,000.00 for everything, is this true? I have researched this procedure a great deal and plan to have it done, except, my concerns are that it is only in the trial stages still, with recruiting trial candidates to receive this sleeve through the Mayo Clinic, MN. and NY Presbytarian Hospital, even though the first ESG was performed over six years ago…I would appreciate more information as to why, when it seems to have been quite successful and being offered by many surgeons now. Thank you for your response and information…..