Redo endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty: technical aspects and short-term outcomes

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) is a restrictive endoscopic bariatric procedure providing promising results. In this short case series, we analyze the technical aspects and short-term outcomes of the redo ESG. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was done on a prospective database of all patients that were selected by a multidisciplinary team that underwent ESG between March 2017 and May 2019. Patients that underwent a redo ESG because of a progressive loss of satiety, weight regain, or insufficient weight loss due to high baseline body mass index were included. Percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL), percentage of total body weight loss (%TBWL), and the Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System (BAROS) questionnaire were evaluated during follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 120 ESG procedures were performed with mean %EWL of 44.4% (± 19.5), mean %TBWL of 18.3% (± 6.7), and mean BAROS of 4.5 (± 1.7) at 12 months. Of those, four patients that underwent a redo ESG were identified. A total of three of them had a redo ESG after 12 months from the first ESG, whereas one of them had a redo ESG after 7 months. During the second procedure, old threads were removed with scissors and new stitches were positioned following a triangular pattern and avoiding overlap with the previous stitches. No adverse events were reported during the redo ESG. Six month follow-up was available for three patients, mean %EWL and %TBWL were 44.2% and 20.4%, respectively; BAROS questionnaire mean score was 6.3. One patient had only 1 month follow-up with a mean %EWL and %TBWL of 33.3% and 12.2%, respectively; BAROS questionnaire reported score was 6. All included patients reported excellent satiety feeling after redo ESG. CONCLUSIONS: The redo ESG short-term outcomes are completely satisfying in terms of safety and efficacy. The need to perform a redo ESG should not be considered as a failure of the previous procedure, but it can be considered as a second step of the endoscopic treatment strategy.