NON-INVASTIVE Revisions Compared!! StomaphyX, EROS, ROSE
Most gastric bypass patients obtain excellent weight loss after surgery. Some patients however, experience weight regain years after their original bypass surgery. This weight regain may be caused by a gradual enlargement of the stomach pouch or stoma (the connection between the stomach pouch and small intestine). This is a source of frustration and health concern and it has motivated Doctors to pursue new options and potential solutions for patients.
Endoscopic procedures go directly into your stomach through your mouth in order to reduce the pouch or the stoma. They stick a tube down your throat and grab a piece of your stomach and suck it in and staple or suture it. Because it's through the mouth there are no abdominal incisions and no long recovery time -- usually just one or two days. This is outpatient surgery and the methods vary a bit, mainly in the way the stomach lining is grabbed and affixed (sutures vs. plastic strips).
Here's what I've been able to compile. Based on this info, and because of the non-invasive approach, I'm less inclined to have a band installed.
ROSE PROCEDURE
The ROSE Procedure (Revision Obesity Surgery, Endoscopic) uses FDA-cleared endoscopic instruments to decrease pouch and stoma size to recreate a restriction to encourage weight loss. This technique does not require surgical incisions. Rather, an endoscopic suturing device is introduced through the mouth like an upper endoscopy.
Sutures are placed in the stomach pouch to reduce its size and around the stoma to reduce its diameter. By eliminating outside incisions, the ROSE procedure is expected to provide important advantages to patients, including, reduced risk of infection and associated complications, less post-operative pain, faster recovery time, and no scarring.
The ROSE procedure is one of the first of many potential applications for Incisionless Surgery. Incisionless Surgery is considered the next wave in minimally invasive procedures and, in addition to obesity, it has generated interest among physicians in areas such as GERD, GI cancer and NOTES (Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery). (ROSE is a registered trademark of USGI Medical, Inc., San Clemente, CA.)
STOMAPHYX PROCEDURE
StomaphyX is a very new procedure (2006) --and I'm sure more and more physicians will be trained in it. StomaphyX uses polypropylene fasteners. Try checking back with the EndoGastric Solutions website's physician locator to see if a physician in your area begins to offer it. http://www.endogastricsolutions.com/ (However, be warned that it probably would not be approved by your insurance company.)
EROS PROCEDURE
EROS (Endolumenal Revision of Stoma)...it's another endoscopic procedure. It uses sutures placed endoscopically to reduce your pouch size. As it is a new procedure, it faces similar issues to StomaphyX--limited physicians trained in the procedure as well as doubtful insurance coverage.
Manypatients are also electing to have a Lap-Band placed around their pouch. This involves surgery and may be covered by insurance.
Seek out a surgeon who has experience doing revisions; rather than just general bariatric surgery. Revisions carry their own risks/issues and it helps to have somebody familiar with those issues.
I had the Gastric Bypass performed on April 2004 and weighed 286 pounds prior to the surgery and within 12 months I had lost 150 pounds. I then got pregnant in 2006 and now have a 9 month old little girl. I gained 85 pounds back but with the help of medicine due to the initial low birth weight during the first trimester of the pregnancy. It was either steriods or more eating to gain weight for the baby. Now I have tried to have the Stomaphyx done in Ocala, FL with Dr. Overcash (Blue Cross Blue Shield) denied the procedure and said that it was bariatric even though it is not surgical. Please hep me get information about the ROSE procedure or who can help me in this quest.
Thank You for the information- I live in Florida but the location that I picked was in Portland, OR since my husband is looking at a semi- truck in that area and may have to go there if he decides to purchase it. I completed the informationf for someone to contact me. I am just so frustrated now that Insurance companies do not cover bariatric proceudres any longer although this should not be billed as a bariatric procedure. Do doctors know that they are setting themselves up for the fall when they do this. I am actually willing to travel almost anywhere at this point in order to make this happen if they will bill on my insurance without the bariatric part. It really is medically necessary for me as well but the Dr. Overcash's office really had no interest in helping at all, his staff just blew me off.
I am a little over two months out of Stomaphyx. I have lost 38 pounds so far. I think it is great. But, I don't do anything I shouldn't do. No pop, small meals, etc. The doctor said he put in 26 pleats. The biggest problem so far has been a loooooonnnnnnnggggg plateau. Five weeks to be exact! But I didn't get discouraged and realized I was just changing my lifestyle and if I did what I was supposed to, it would all come off. I've lost 4 pounds in the last 2 days. WLS are tools. We all use them a bit differently and with varied success. One size doesn't fit all. Research, research, research. Do what YOU feel good about. Many have said that Stomaphyx is a failure. Not for me! I believe that I can achieve! Good luck to all no matter the journey.
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