Confronto tra riduzione ESD e APC-TORe (CREATORe)

Weight regain after having a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is common. One of the primary reasons for weight regain after bypass is stretching out or "dilation" of the surgical connection created between what is left of the stomach and the small intestine (called the anastamosis). As the ability to suture with the help of a scope inserted through the mouth into the stomach instead of surgery, the transoral outlet reduction (TORe) was developed. The TORe involves suturing around the stretched out anastamosis, allowing it to be pulled tighter and shrink down, resulting in weight loss, and is an entirely endoscopic and reversible procedure. As the procedure advanced, "burning" of the stomach lining using a technique called argon plasma coagulation (APC), in addition to suturing, became the standard way to perform the TORe procedure. The APC helps the stomach tissue shrink even more and heal into place better, causing even more weight loss. This is now the classic way to perform the TORe (hereby called the "c-TORe"), and is now widely used to help patients who have regained weight after gastric bypass.

Multiple studies report the c-TORe results in an average of 8-9% total body weight loss. However more recently, another variation of the TORe was developed, which uses endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). In the ESD-TORe (hereby called the E-TORe), the physician makes a small cut in the surface layer of the anastamosis in addition to APC and suturing. In the only study comparing c-TORe to E-TORe, E-TORe resulted in significantly more weight loss. However, there are several limitations to this study that require more investigation.

This clinical trial will compare the c-TORe and the E-TORe. Patients who are eligible and willing to undergo a TORe procedure will be assigned to get either the c-TORe or the E-TORe. They will undergo the procedure with a physician experienced in both types of the procedure. Participants will be followed for one year after the procedure to compare which procedure type results in more weight loss.