There is a desperate need for a technically simple, reversible, clinically effective, and safe approach to facilitate weight loss and improvement in metabolic comorbidities in obese patients. This has led to significant investment into the development of endoscopic bariatric therapies. In this issue of theAmerican Journal of Gastroenterology, the first randomized controlled trial assessing aspiration therapy using an endoscopically placed gastrostomy tube is reported with promising results. Aspiration therapy is the first endoscopic therapy to be approved in the United States for use in morbidly obese patients and may be an alternative to those not wishing to undergo bariatric surgery.
1Department of Medicine and Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
2Department of Medicine, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, Lennox Hill Hospital, Manhattan, New York, USA
Correspondence: Patrick Okolo III, MD, MPH, Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, Lenox Hill Hospital, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, 100 E 77th St, Manhattan, New York 10075, USA. E-mail: Pokolo@nortgwell.edu
Received 02 November 2016; accepted 08 December 2016
Guarantor of the article: Vivek Kumbhari, MD.
Specific author contributions: Vivek Kumbhari: Review of the literature, interpretation of the data, drafting of the manuscript and final approval of the manuscript. Patrick I Okolo III: Review of the literature, interpretation of the data, drafting of the manuscript and final approval of the manuscript.
Financial support: None.
Potential competing interests: Vivek Kumbhari is a Consultant for Boston Scientific and Apollo Endosurgery.
