New Gastric Bypass Performed Without Scalpel

SAN DIEGO -- During gastric bypass surgery doctors shrink the size of the stomach so the patient can lose weight. Sometimes it doesn't take and more surgery is required. That's where a new no-scalpel technique comes into play.

Angela Dean has undergone gastric bypass surgery twice. But the second time was much different than the first.

"I wouldn't have even known I had the procedure," she said afterward. "I have a little sore throat and that's it."

Angela's surgeon, Dr. Julie Ellner, is one of only a handful of surgeons in the country trained and committed to using StomaphyX, that's the name of the tube-like device inserted through the mouth to do corrective surgery in order to re-shrink the stomach.

Alvarado Hospital Surgical Weight Loss Director Julie Ellner said, "That's where the StomaphyX procedure comes in. So we go inside the stomach and make pleats and tucks inside to re-shrink it to the size of a golf ball."

Dean lost 180 pounds after her first surgery but started putting the weight back on. StomaphyX allowed her to shrink her stomach again without having to be cut open. But there's a catch:

"We can fix the stomach, but if they don't fix their lifestyle and if they don't get involved in the support groups and follow-ups with the surgeon, then the stomach won't work the way they want it to work," Dr. Ellner said.

The key is repeated follow-up visits and a commitment to exercise and nutritional programs, something Angela said she didn't get the first time around.

"Yeah, that's why I'm definitely ready," Angela said, "and with the help here it'll be a lot easier."

And a lot less painful.

Find out more about StomaphyX, gastric bypass without an incision, at californiastomaphyx.com