If you are overweight getting your weight down is one of the best things you can do to improve the way you feel about yourself and your physical health. POSE will help you feel more full more quickly reducing the amount you want to eat and helping you to loose weight.
POSE offers the possibility scarless surgery with reduced pain, reduced complications and rapid return to normal activity compared to conventional surgery.
POSE, or Primary Obesity Surgery Endoscopy is an exciting new technology/technique that has been developed in the United States. We are particularly excited about the potential for POSE to help patients in the UK who have a problem with their weight, for whom the more radical approaches of gastric banding, bypass or sleeve gastrectomy are not an appropriate choice.
POSE is an endoscopic procedure that involves placing sutures in the upper part of the stomach at endoscopy. These sutures have the effect of reducing the capacity of the stomach so that you will feel less hungry after the procedure and will feel full after eating a smaller amount of food, and will hence be helped in you aim of losing weight.
The procedure is performed under a general anaesthetic, and is performed by endoscopy. A camera is passed by mouth whilst you are asleep, and the operation is performed on the inside of the stomach. This means that the procedure is performed without incisions or scars. Avoiding incisions in the skin means that the procedure is associated with minimal discomfort, rapid recovery, minimal if any time off work, and no-one other than your general practitioner need know you have had this procedure performed.
Following the procedure you will be seen regularly during the fist 12 months in order that our team can help to support the changes in eating and physical behaviour that will be required for you to achieve the best result from this treatment.
At present the procedure has been performed in approximately 50 patients in the United States over the last 15 months. In these patients there have been no significant complications, and it appears that this treatment is very safe. Amongst these patients excess weight loss of 36% on average has been achieved at 3 -12 months(Excess weight is the weight of an individual over and above their ideal weight).
It is very important that anyone considering this treatment is aware that it is not yet clear what the longer term results are, and how durable this treatment is. We are optimistic that the effect of this treatment will be long lived, which is why we have become involved in it’s introduction to the UK. We will be closely following up all patients having this treatment, and will make public through scientific presentation and publication the effectiveness or otherwise of POSE.
Maureen's story after her POSE procedure
