EndoSurgical Operating System Enables Incisionless Surgery to Reduce Gastric Pouch and Stoma After Gastric Bypass

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. -- USGI Medical Inc. (USGI) announced that leading experts presented clinical evidence showing that its EndoSurgical Operating System™ (EOS) enables surgeons and physicians to use an incisionless technique to reduce the size of the gastric pouch and stoma in patients who have regained weight after initial success with gastric bypass. Results of two studies found that the procedure had good clinical success with only very minor side effects. Clinicians presented the data at the annual American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) 2008 conference that took place in WASHINGTON, D.C. last week.

In a study titled, "Endolumenal tissue plication with tissue-anchors as a treatment for dilated gastrojejunostomy and gastric pouch after gastric bypass: early clinical experience (poster 102, June 18)," Daniel Herron, MD, and colleagues used the EOS to create tissue folds around the stoma and in the stomach pouch of eight patients with an average of four pairs of expandable tissue anchors. No major complications occurred and the only minor complications were sore throats.

"The patients in the study all had lost significant weight after gastric bypass, but slowly began to regain weight over time," said Herron, chief of bariatric surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. "Due to the scarring from the original procedure, open revision options have generally been excessively risky to perform for all patients with a large pouch or stoma. By enabling us to perform this new incisionless revision procedure, these patients are back on the path to weight loss with barely any side effects. As always, we continue to monitor these patients and anticipate that further refinement of instruments and technique will improve the procedure."

A plenary session on Wednesday featured a video of Christopher Thompson, MD, director of developmental endoscopy at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and his team performing the surgical bypass revision procedure.

USGI designed the EOS to addresses a range of incisionless surgical procedures. The system facilitates access and visualization of the operating field via the body's natural orifices; provides a stable operating platform to enhance surgical precision and control; allows the use of multiple, robust instruments for two-handed operation and enables rapid, durable suturing for tissue folding and wound closure.

Source: USGI Medical