A record-breaking attendance at 2010's meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery marked the growing interest in new ways to address the issue of obesity. Currently, less than 1% of a potential US patient population of 15 million who might benefit from bariatric surgery actually undergo the procedure, and surgeons are scrambling to understand why and to identify new, less invasive approaches that might help them better penetrate this enormous patient pool.
ASMBS Highlights New Developments in Bariatric Surgery
Article preview from Medtech Insight- August, 2010
A record-breaking attendance at this year's meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) in Las Vegas marked the growing interest in new ways to address the issue of obesity. Currently, less than 1% of a potential US patient population of 15 million who might benefit from bariatric surgery actually undergo the procedure, and surgeons are scrambling to understand why and to identify new, less-invasive approaches that might help them better penetrate this enormous patient pool. While 68% of the American adult population is overweight or obese and childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years, only about 220,000 bariatric surgeries were performed in 2009.
Patient surveys suggest that bringing more of these patients into the hands of surgeons will require much better treatment options than exist today. According to Scott Shikora, MD, professor of surgery, Tufts University School of Medicine (Boston, MA) and immediate past president of the ASMBS, who spoke during a sold-out postgraduate course on emerging technologies at ASMBS, "Bariatric surgery is not a new concept but one that has gotten significantly more popular (due to the global obesity epidemic). But despite achieving meaningful and sustainable weight loss, current procedures are not acceptable to most patients."
Still, he pointed out, new and innovative technologies are in development that in the future will meet more patient demands, following a long history of technology advances in this arena. That history dates back to the 1950s, when open intestinal bypasses were being performed. In the 1960s, gastroplasties replaced the intestinal bypass, and by the nineties, bariatric surgery was converted to laparoscopic techniques and gastric bands were introduced. The current tool box includes those procedures as well as sleeve gastrectomies, single port and NOTES (natural orifice translumenal endoscopy) technologies, and other new procedures, including those that address diabetes.
Continued...
To read this article in its entirety, purchase this article online as a PDF and receive it immediately via email. Or get it FREE when you subscribe to Medtech Insight Newsletter.
About Medtech Insight
Medtech Insight newsletter provides insights into the technology and market developments (devices, instrumentation, biomaterials, gene therapy, tissue engineering, etc.) impacting a wide range of surgical and non-surgical clinical practices.
Plus:
To find out about more about more about Elsevier Business Intelligence's medical device publications and databases, multi-user access and/or advertising with Medical Devices Today, please contact Kristy Kennedy at (480) 985-9512
Comments