Weight Loss Surgery - Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty 

Whay is Weight Loss Surgery - Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty 

E ndoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG) is the term given to a new weight loss procedure pioneered at the Mayo Clinic in 2012, and now in use in a number of centres around the world. The procedure is non-surgical and is performed by a specialist doctor using endoscopic techniques in an accredited hospital under general anaesthesia.

Once asleep, the specialist inserts a camera (i.e. endoscope) through the mouth and into the stomach via a protective tube, that protects the oesophagus (food pipe) from injury. Following an examination to ensure it is safe to proceed, a series of stitches are made within the stomach to create a tube- or banana-shape which significantly decreases the stomach’s capacity. 

The procedure takes approximately 60 minutes to perform and the patient is able to be discharged from hospital on the same day. 

 

While the stitches are not dissolvable, over several years the stitches may loosen or come undone- this can happen with vomiting or over-eating. While this is not dangerous at all, this may decrease effectiveness of the procedure over the course of several years.