Doctors: New Weight-Loss Surgery Is Less Risky

Gastric Plication Costs $10,000

 

POSTED: Friday, May 27, 2011 UPDATED: 6:16 pm CDT May 28, 2011

 

Email Print   HOUSTON -- A new surgical weight-loss procedure in Houston is less invasive and offers incredible results, doctors said Friday.

 

 

• Video: Doctors: New Weight-Loss Surgery Is Less Risky
• Texas Laparoscopic Consultants

 

Denise Foster was one of the first Houston-area patients to have laparoscopic greater curve plication. She said she was desperate after her weight topped out at 220 following a divorce.

 

"I think it may fill a niche for a lot of patients seeking weight loss surgery who know that being obese is unhealthy," said Dr. Sherman Yu, a bariatric surgeon.

 

Yu and Dr. Terry Scarborough are performing the new procedure at Park Plaza Hospital.

 

"When I think about this, I think about the patients who they know that they're the first ones. I actually get kind of emotional when I think about it," Scarborough said. "I think they're very brave to be the first ones."

 

Gastric plication has been around for about two years overseas and is now available in the United States to patients with a body mass index higher than 35. A normal BMI is considered 25.

 

Scarborough said a big advantage is that it's laproscopic and less invasive.

 

"A lot of the issues that patients have about having weight loss surgery in the first place is they don't want most of their stomach taken out or they don't want the bowel rearranged, the intestine rearranged, so this makes it so they don't have to do that," he said.

 

Plus, there's no foreign device placed inside the body, such as a lap band or stables.

 

"What's unique about this surgery is all we're doing is basically folding up the patient's stomach and sewing it back up on itself almost like creating a burrito," Yu said.

 

A person's stomach holds about one quart of liquid. After gastric plication, the stomach is the size of a banana. So, post-operative patients can eat only about four ounces per sitting.

 

"After one to two months, they should be pretty much back to a regular lifestyle where they can eat regular food -- just a lot smaller quantities," Scarborough said.

 

Doctors said that's when the weight starts to shed.

 

"Patients are losing anywhere from 60 to 65 percent of their excess body weight," Yu said.

 

Another side effect is that health issues associated with obesity tend to melt away as well, according to doctors.

 

"We know when you reverse someone's obesity, a lot of those medical problems go away. So that's our goal is to make everyone more healthy," Yu said.

 

Doctors are quick to say it isn't a magic fix. Patients must undergo psychological and nutritional counseling to make sure they maintain a healthy, active lifestyle after surgery.

 

"You can defeat any weight loss surgery if you really want to -- if you drink milkshakes a lot or you eat candy and stuff like that. So, the patient has to meet it halfway," Scarborough said.

 

The cost for gastric plication is $10,000, and it is not yet covered by insurance.

 

Doctors said like any weight-loss surgery, there are risks. For more information, visit www.tlcsurgery.com/education/bariatric-surgery-houston-tx/ga stric-plication.