Incisionless Bariatric Surgery Offers Shorter Recovery Period and No Visible Scars

An incisionless operating system provides surgeons the tools they need to cut, sew, and manipulate tissue during weight-loss surgery.

The incisionless operating platform (IOP) system is intended for Primary Obesity Surgery, Endolumenal (POSE) surgery. The IOP facilitates access and visualization of the operating field, providing a stable operating platform to enhance surgical precision and control. The system includes the TransPort multi-lumen platform, the g-Prox grasping and tissue approximation device, the g-Cath tissue anchor delivery catheters, and a variety of endosurgical tissue graspers that allow two-handed operation and rapid, durable suturing for tissue apposition and wound closure.

The TransPort multilumen platform provides stable access to the operating site via a natural orifice or an incision in the umbilicus. The TransPort has four large working channels, which are compatible with endoscopes and endosurgical instruments, allowing users to deploy and use up to three tools simultaneously, and perform rapid instrument exchanges needed during complex procedures. Among the features of the TransPort are steering wheel locks and surgical tool locks, which allow a stable platform during a procedure. An insufflation capability facilitates CO2 insufflation, improving visualization and patient comfort.

The g-Prox is a multifunction instrument that can be used as an aggressive endoscopic tissue grasper and as a needle driver to deliver expandable tissue anchors, which are preloaded into the g-Cath catheter and inserted into the g-Prox before firing. Even though it is flexible, the device is constructed with a robust body that accurately conveys torque and the forces necessary for incisionless surgical tasks. The IOP system is a product of USGI Medical (San Clemente, CA, USA).

"Bariatric surgery is the most effective tool patients have to lose weight and overcome the diseases often associated with it. However, many patients worry about the recovery time and complications associated with surgical incisions. This advanced incisionless procedure offers them a less invasive treatment option,” said Michael J. Thomas, M.D., of Surgical Specialists of Louisiana (Covington, USA), who performs the POSE procedure.

The IOP system can also be used for an incisionless procedure to reduce the size of the stomach pouch and opening to the small intestine in Roux en Y gastric bypass patients who have started to regain weight because of changes in their anatomy. This procedure is known as restorative obesity surgery, endoluminal (ROSE).

Related Links:
USGI Medical
Surgical Specialists of Louisiana