Recent Trends in Endoscopic Bariatric Therapies

Abstract

Obesity and its associated metabolic diseases including diabetes mellitus are severe medical problems that are increasing in prevalence worldwide and result in significant healthcare expenses. While behavioral and pharmacological treatment approaches are partly effective in the short term, their effects are not long-lasting. Although previous studies have described bariatric surgery as the most effective treatment for obesity, it is associated with morbidity, mortality, and economic burden. Endoluminal interventions performed entirely using gastrointestinal flexible endoscopy offer alternative approaches to the treatment of obesity that are safer and more cost-effective than current surgical approaches. The use of endoluminal techniques in the field of metabolic obesity disease has diverse promising applications including endoscopic gastroplasty, intragastric balloon, endoluminal malabsorptive bariatric procedures, and gastric electrical stimulation (GES) for the modulation of gastric emptying. This review discusses recent trends and roles in endoscopic bariatric therapies using the currently available endoluminal and transgastric technologies.

Psychological outcomes following surgical and endoscopic bariatric procedures: A systematic review

“…Individually, lifestyle/behavioural interventions have been shown to produce short‐term reductions in weight, while newer pharmacological approaches have received increasing support for their efficacy . More recently, endoscopic bariatric procedures have also shown promising metabolic outcomes . Endoscopic bariatric procedures emerged as a viable non‐surgical alternative to bariatric surgery .…”

“…More recently, endoscopic bariatric procedures have also shown promising metabolic outcomes . Endoscopic bariatric procedures emerged as a viable non‐surgical alternative to bariatric surgery . Although in its infancy, endoscopic procedures appear to be more economical and have less adverse side effects, health risks, and mortality compared with bariatric surgery .…”

“…Endoscopic bariatric procedures emerged as a viable non‐surgical alternative to bariatric surgery . Although in its infancy, endoscopic procedures appear to be more economical and have less adverse side effects, health risks, and mortality compared with bariatric surgery . These procedures can be categorised into restrictive‐type, malabsorptive, endoscopic gastroplasty techniques, and evolving endoscopic techniques .…”

“…Although in its infancy, endoscopic procedures appear to be more economical and have less adverse side effects, health risks, and mortality compared with bariatric surgery . These procedures can be categorised into restrictive‐type, malabsorptive, endoscopic gastroplasty techniques, and evolving endoscopic techniques . However, bariatric surgery (metabolic surgery) is the only treatment demonstrating long‐term effectiveness in achieving significant weight loss and medical benefits (eg, remission of type‐2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and sleep apnoea) .…”

Snake-Like Robots for Minimally Invasive, Single-Port, and Intraluminal Surgeries

“…These procedures are typically referred to as natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgeries (NOTES). Examples of such procedures include trans-gastric and transvaginal abdominal surgery, [25][26][27] trans-esophageal thoracic surgery, 28,29 and transanal mesorectal surgery. 30,31 A single port is used to provide access to multiple tools.…”