Gastric Bypass Surgery News Links

Miami, FL

Doctors have announced a ground-breaking procedure. It allows them to perform surgery without making an incision, anywhere. CBS4's Dr. Sean Kenniff explains how it works.

Darlene Dillard lost 100 pounds with gastric bypass. But like 1/4 of people who undergo obesity surgery, a few years later she started to gain weight back.

"I had gained about 30 pounds outside of my range of weight," said Dillard.

Instead of operating again, doctors did something drastically different. It's called Stomaphyx--a natural orifice surgery.

"It is going to be a totally different new era of surgery," said Dr. Michel Gagner from Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center.

He says it really is a surgical revolution -- with no incisions surgical instruments are inserted through natural orifices. In this case: Darlene's mouth, to make her stomach pouch smaller.

CBS4's Dr. Sean Kenniff said natural orifice surgery isn't limited to obesity procedures. Doctors are now perfecting techniques to treat everything from appendicitis to cancer."

"Removal of part of the liver, removal of adrenal, removal of part of the stomach, doing bowel connections," explained Dr. Gagner.

And many other procedures are being performed through the rectum, esophagus and vagina.

" It's just the beginning, it's going to explode in the next five years, you're going to be hearing a lot more about this," said Dr. Gagner.

With Darlene's weight loss, her medical problems disappeared.

"There was borderline diabetes, borderline hypertension," explained Darlene. "I had stress fractures of my feet."

And she hopes the new no-incision surgery will keep the pounds, and those problems away.