Incisionless Weight Loss Procedures

Endoscopic Weight Loss surgeries are minimally invasive, outpatient, incision-free procedures that currently encompass two types of procedures: intragastric balloons and endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG).

Endoscopic surgery or surgery through an endoscope without incisions is the cutting edge of surgery. Surgery has evolved from “open surgery” to laparoscopic surgery to robotic surgery and now endoscopic surgery. Engineering advances are allowing fine movements to be translated across long distances. Dr. Gopal Grandhige is passionate about being an early adopter of new techniques that have proven themselves to be safe and effective.

Having introduced the TIF procedure and LINX^® procedure to Tampa for the resolution of reflux disease, he now is proud to be the only facility in the Tampa Bay Area offering all three FDA approved endoscopic procedures for weight loss.

When patients are on their journey to health, beauty and wellness, jumpstarts such as these endoscopic and non-surgical weight loss procedures are helpful in staying on course. Dr. Grandhige is a board-certified, laparoscopic and robotic bariatric surgeon as well and is able to discuss all weight loss options with you: medical (pills), non-surgical and surgical to see what best suits your needs.

Spatz3 is the market’s only adjustable gastric balloon. Gastric Balloon placement is a non-surgical method that assists patients in starting and maintaining weight loss. Patients feel fuller faster and consume smaller meals after inserting a small saline filled silicone balloon into their stomach. The adjustable design can benefit patients who are uncomfortable by allowing the balloon to be partially deflated. If the weight loss stalls while the balloon is in place, the device can be inflated with extra saline to offer more fullness and better total weight reduction.

Dr. Gopal Grandhige is the first and only physician in the Tampa Bay Area offering the Spatz3 adjustable gastric balloon after being interviewed and selected by the company for their post-FDA approval study.

The Orbera Intragastric Balloon is another popular FDA approved gastric balloon that assists patients in weight loss. Over 300,000 patients have been treated with this balloon worldwide. Combined with 2 years of our one-on-one personalized concierge nutritionist visits before and after placement, patients lose 3x the weight of diet and exercise alone. It is a completely reversible, non-surgical weight loss procedure in which a deflated balloon is inserted and then inflated with saline under direct visualization. Patients are comfortably sedated throughout the procedure and go home soon after the procedure is complete. Patients feel full quicker and are find it easy to adhere to the healthy low calorie meals provided by their nutritionist. After balloon removal, our nutritionists assist in the “reverse-dieting” phase where patient’s metabolism is increased by slowly increasing the size of the meals until a sustainable lifestyle is achieved.

First, advertised under names such as Apollo ESG^® or SutureSculpt, the endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty or ESG reduces the size of the stomach by 70-80%, providing incredible weight loss results with no incisions or scarring. Dr. Gopal Grandhige performs the procedure by attaching a suturing device to the end of a camera or endoscope that is passed through the mouth into the stomach. The size of the stomach is reduced by a precise suturing technique, permanently helping patients feel full faster and lose weight.

Unlike traditional weight loss surgeries such as the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and laparoscopic gastric bypass, ESG is incision less and does not involve removing a portion of the stomach.

ESG has been studied in over 10,000 patients and has shown to be a significantly effective and long lasting weight loss procedure.

At Tampa Bay Reflux Institute, we provide 2 years of one-on-one concierge nutritional counseling to help you achieve your goals. This long term support is the key to our success.

For patients who have had previous weight loss surgery such as a sleeve gastrectomy or roux-en-y gastric bypass but have regained some of the weight due to pouch dilation or sleeve dilation, the suturing device can be used to retighten either of these procedures, helping our patients get back on track even if they have stumbled.

The TORe or Transoral outlet reduction endoscopy is used for those patients who have had weight gain after gastric bypass and reduces the size of the connection between the stomach and intestine, returning the full sensation felt after small portions.

The GSRe (Gastric Sleeve Revision) or SIS (Sleeve in Sleeve) is a non-surgical endoscopic procedure to shrink the sleeve by placing precise sutures to fold and fuse the stomach, returning the stomach to its pre-stretched size or even a bit smaller.