Banded Gastric Plication and Obesity

Posted: Aug 08 in Weight Loss Surgery by Staff

Banded gastric plication could become another weight loss surgery option for very obese people who want and need to lose excess weight according to early data. However, more research including bariatric surgery comparison and randomized trials are needed.

A recent study examined 15 patients who had plication of the anterior stomach and found that it can result in early and substantial weight loss. The individuals were checked in one year following banded gastric plication, and found those in the greater curvature plication and anterior plication groups had weight loss of over 53 percent and over 23 percent, respectively.

Both the greater curvature and anterior plication procedures involve folding and suturing the stomach onto itself to create a smaller stomach. The idea is similar to the sleeve gastrectomy procedure done here in Port Charlotte, whereby the stomach is constructed to become a narrow tube. The gastric curvature plication, in particular, more closely resembles the sleeve gastrectomy procedure in relation to the reduction in stomach volume.

Pain is minimized and recovery time is fast for patients having greater curvature plication since this weight loss surgery is performed laparoscopically. Although reversal of the procedure is possible, it’s hasn’t been done so to date. This “reversibility” component is important for some people, so the gastric banding plication provides another option. A sleeve gastrectomy is not reversible, and it’s more difficult to reverse a gastric bypass procedure.

Although we are still in the early stages of banded gastric plication, it appears to be less costly than a sleeve gastrectomy.

While the plication procedure is rather straightforward, there’s more learning needed. A too tight stomach fold can lead to dysphagia gastric lumen obstruction, whereas a too loose fold could lead to increased risk for weight regain. The clinical results appear promising so far, but more testing is needed.