New obesity surgery leaves no scars

just wondering if anyone read this and if so, what do you think?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31090449/

Hi Melissa,

I saw a report on this technique this morning. Apparently, they are 'testing' it in NYC now and it's been being used in Europe for a while. It's not as effective as RNY, but appears to be as effective as LapBand, which is still pretty darn good. They do everything through the esphagus, and while now they are doing it under a general anesthesia, they are looking forward to doing it using a twilight sleep and as an outpatient.

I'll bet it will be the next big thing, but it will take a while to get insurance on board... they said it costs about the same as lapband.

Pretty cool, huh!?

Hi Melissa, I saw it.  The no scars sound good.  However, I believe the lap band would be better because it allows you to adjust for a new start when you fall off track.   I have a date now July 27th:) 

For me I'd rather have the lap scars than have a hose sized thing down my throat.

But others may disagree

I am pleased with my RNY so far and my scars are nearly invisible. I think the possibility of this surgery is intriquing though and it may be something available to more people in the near future. Anything that can help reverse the obesity growth trend in our country and in the world has to be a good thing.

Hi Melissa,

I think that the 'real value' of this surgery will be for patients who cannot undergo the more invasive surgeries due to health concerns. While it may well become a tool for those who could have any surgery type, there are patients who are too 'fragile' to undergo current surgeries that require general anesthesia, but could and would benefit from the weight loss that would occur with this procedure. I think that is probably going to be the biggest benefit of a procedure like this. 

Re: having a lapband so that you can have it adjusted does have it's benefits, but once we have a pouch we are all able to 'leverage' the pouch for the rest of our lives. We just have to make the choice to do so. 

Thanks again for this thread.