Efficacy and future of endoscopic bariatric surgery in the treatment of obesity and metabolic diseases

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The emerging endoscopic technologies are proved to be effective treatments for obesity in selected patients and to offer the potential advantages of reduced invasiveness, reversibility and repeatability. From the view of operation principle, endoscopic technologies can be classified as restrictive procedure, malabsorption procedure and endoscopic revision of gastric bypass. Restrictive procedures include intragastric balloon, aspiration therapy, endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) and transoral gastroplasty. Intragastric balloon employs space occupying, volume restriction and satiety mechanisms, which is superior to drugs and lifestyle change, but shorter than sleeve and bypass surgery. Aspiration therapy is similar to standard percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, while there are no available data regarding the obesity and metabolic improvement. Compared with traditional bariatric surgery, ESG does not excise gastric tissue with less complications and without weight regain, but it can not be used as an independent operation still now. Transoral gastroplasty is rarely applied clinically whose efficacy and long-term complications need further studies. Malabsorption surgery includes endoscopic duodenojejunal bypass sleeve (EDJBS) and endoscopic gastroduodenojejunal bypass sleeve(EGDJBS). EDJBS may have the similar mechanism like bypass reducing the blood glucose. Even with obvious effect of weight loss, EDJBS has high morbidity of complications and requirements of the skilled operators. EGDJBS, which imitates bypass anatomy changes and belongs to the mixed operation, should be superior to the above procedures in reducing weight theoretically, but due to the lack of clinical data, its short-term and long-term efficacy still need further clinical observation. As compared to the complexity and risks associated with telescopic surgical revision, endoscopic suturing has been confirmed as less invasive and safer for stomal revisions, while its long-term efficacy of reducing weight and improvement of diabetes are not yet clear. Even if long-term efficacy of reducing weight and morbidity of complication in endoscopic bariatric surgery are still indefinite, and clinical trial researches of large sample and long-term follow-up are absent, with the development of endoscopic skill and the gradual clinical application, endoscopic bariatric surgery will provide a new option for the patients of obesity and metabolic diseases.