Stitches inside your stomach that help you lose FIVE stone in SIX months

OVERWEIGHT patients could lose five stone or more in six months thanks to a pioneering procedure that involves shrinking the stomach with stitches. The scalpel-free method involves no incisions, meaning there is no scarring and patients can return to work within days.

As the stomach is about two-thirds to three-quarters smaller after the procedure i s carried out, t he patients feel fuller quickly and their appetite is reduced. And patients are warned that should they over- indulge, the delicate stitches will break and the stomach will return to its original size.

Because the success of the operation relies in part on the patient exercising psychological control over their urge to eat, it can be more successful than other more invasive methods in the long term, surgeons claim.

Studies suggest the majority of patients undergoing the procedure lose and keep off at least 60 per cent of their excess weight – about three stone, on average.

Results are comparable to one of the most drastic and difficult weight-loss operations, the formal sleeve gastrectomy, in which the stomach is cut and stitched in such a way that it becomes a tube. This reduces the volume of the stomach but the operation is irreversible.

In ten percent of sleeve gastrecto my cases, the stomach stops producing digestive chemicals essential for absorbing Vitamin B12. This leads to anaemia, which causes extreme fatigue, breathlessness and a host of other problems. Patients facing these problems are forced to take vitamin supplements or have injections for life.

With the new operation, known as endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty ( ESG), the stomach isn’t cut or removed, so this complication is avoided. Instead, stitches are used to gather a section of the stomach wall together.

Jamie Kelly, one of the surgeons offering the operation on a trial basis to selected private and NHS patients, says: ‘We see up to 70 per cent weight loss in eight out of ten patients, within the first six to nine months. At the two-year mark we find the majority keep it off.’

Other reversible weight-loss procedures include the gastric band, in which an inflatable ring is implanted so that it sits around the stomach, limiting the amount that can be eaten; and inflatable balloons inserted into the stomach that cause the patient to feel full.

‘A gastric band will give between 50 and 60 per cent excess weight loss at two years. The balloon results in about 20 to 30 per cent weight loss but they are typically removed within a year, and more than 90 per cent of patients regain the weight,’ says Mr Kelly.

Like all weight-loss surgery, ESG is ineffective in about 20 per cent of patients. ‘In the case of ESG, if a patient repeatedly overeats, the stitches will break and the stomach returns to a normal size,’ explains Mr Kelly.

‘ But the operation helps them control their urge to overeat, so we see a great weight-loss results.’

During the one-hour procedure, which is carried out under general anaesthetic, the surgeon inserts a camera and instruments on long flexible tubes through the mouth and into the stomach. Mechanical devices are used to grab sections of the stomach wall and place stitches through it.

‘The stitching pattern looks a bit like the lacing on a pair of hiking boots. When it’s pulled tight, that area of the stomach compresses and the overall volume is reduced,’ adds Mr Kelly.

Patients are kept in hospital overnight and given anti-nausea drugs. ‘Any nausea and abdominal pain subsides after about 24 hours,’ says Mr Kelly. ‘Patients are often back at work within three or four days.’

Stitches are made of a non-absorbable nylon-based material resistant to stomach acid.

‘Often, patients who come to see me have tried everything to lose weight and had no success. This operation is minimally invasive, and involves little downtime, so no one needs to know they’ve had it done,’ adds Mr Kelly.

Ideally, patients should have a body mass index score of between 30 and 40. Possible complications include abdominal infection, while those suffering from stomach conditions such as ulcers or a hernia may be unsuitable.

But Mr Kelly says: ‘We hope the success of ESG will mean patients approach us at an earlier stage and at a lower weight, before high blood pressure, diabetes and other obesity-related conditions become a problem.’

At present, the operation is available privately at a cost of about £10,000 or as part of an NHS trial.

Car salesman Ben Jones, 31, from Newport, South Wales, is one of the first patients to benefit.

At his heaviest, the married father of one weighted 23st and had a BMI score of 43.

He was on high doses of bloodpressure medication and his bloodsugar levels were in the pre-diabetic range. Numerous diets failed to help. Ben underwent ESG surgery at the Spire Southampton Hospital with Mr Kelly last November, and today weighs 18st. He no longer needs medication, and his bloodsugar levels are normal.

‘After the operation, I felt very groggy, but not sick,’ he says. ‘But the next day I felt fine, and I didn’t need anything more than paracetamol to control the pain. I had to stick to a liquid diet for 30 days, which was the hardest part, and then move on to soft foods, like mashed bananas.

‘Now I can eat what I like but my appetite is massively reduced.

‘Surgery has given me a new lease of life. I’m more than happy, and I have a few fat friends who want the operation now.’

‘Surgery isn’t invasive so no one needs to know you’ve had it’