Transoral surgery for morbid obesity

Endoscopy after bariatric surgery

Obesity is a global epidemic with significant morbidity and mortality. Weight loss results in reduction of health risks and improvement in quality of life, thus representing a goal of paramount importance. Bariatric surgery is the most efficacious choice compared to conservative alternatives including diet, exercise, drugs and behavioral modification to treat obese patients. Following bariatric operations, patients may present with upper gastrointestinal tract complaints that warrant endoscopic evaluation and the various bariatric surgery types are often linked to complications. A subset of these complications necessitates endoscopic interventions for accurate diagnosis and effective, minimal invasive treatment. This review aims to highlight the role of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in patients who have undergone bariatric surgery to evaluate and potentially treat surgery-related complications and upper gastrointestinal symptoms.

Is Endoluminal Bariatric Therapy a New Paradigm of Treatment for Obesity?

The prevalence of obesity has steadily increased throughout recent decades, and along with it, the costs of caring for the associated comorbid conditions has increased as well. Traditional bariatric surgical procedures generally are safe and effective, but patient acceptance, the risk of minor and sometimes serious complications, costs, and insurance coverage have limited the application of these techniques to the treatment of a minority of patients. Endoluminal techniques represent newer approaches to weight loss that can be used independently or in concert with traditional medical and surgical treatments for obesity, with varying degrees of success. It is anticipated that less invasiveness will increase the appeal across a broader representation of patients, perhaps increasing the number of obese patients who choose an intervention over medical management and possibly resulting in a greater total loss of excess body weight across a population; this may reduce costs involved in treating the complications of weight-related comorbidities. Acceptance of endoluminal bariatric procedures and devices will hinge on proving safety, efficacy, and value.

Small bowel necrosis as a consequence of spontaneous deflation and migration of an air-filled intragastric balloon - a potentially life-threatening complication

Intragastric balloon placement is a common method of treatment of obesity and is often used by non-surgical teams in endoscopy departments. The likelihood of spontaneous intragastric balloon damage is a well-known phenomenon. We describe a patient who was disqualified from surgical obesity treatment and in whom intragastric fluid-filled balloons had already been inserted twice and removed due to their intolerance. Therefore we qualified this patient for placement of the air-filled balloon Heliosphere BAG. Two months after the planned check-up, he arrived at the surgery department complaining of nausea and vomiting and due to symptoms of ileus diagnosed with an X-ray and ultrasound examination we qualified him for emergency surgery. We would like to emphasise the following issues: the necessity of air-filled balloon removal according to the producer's instructions and multidisciplinary specialist team care along with appropriate diagnostic tools in every case of intragastric balloon insertion.