the case of gastroplasty, the area of the stomach that would be removed
is instead sewn together, effectively reducing the volume of the stom-
ach by 70%, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The
result is a far less invasive outpatient procedure that leaves no visible
scars.
Though it's a relatively new procedure, endoscopic sleeve gastro-
plasty uses an endosuturing scope add-on, which many GI doctors fre-
quently use to close large ulcers or lesions that can't be fixed with a
clip.
The endosuturing device has 2 parts: a needle and a holder. In gas-
troplasty, the holder grips the walls of the stomach while the needle
sutures the stomach tissue walls together from the antrum to the fun-
dus. The doctor leaves only a small tube of gastric lumen remaining to
connect the esophagus to the pyloric sphincter.
"The whole idea is to do the least invasive way of managing a condi-
tion," says Dalbir Sandhu, MD, chief of endoscopy at MetroHealth
Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Researchers say the process, which is completed entirely endoscop-
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