Hospital tries no-cut weight-loss surgery

BOSTON, June 28 (UPI) -- A Boston hospital has performed a variation on gastric bypass surgery that does not require cutting into a patient, making it safer and less traumatic.

Christopher Thompson, director of bariatric endoscopy at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said similar procedures have been done about 60 times in the United States, The Boston Globe reported. But the operation last week at the hospital was the first for weight-loss.

Elizabeth Doane, a nurse at Brigham who has spent a lot of time caring for patients who have had gastric bypasses, was the first to undergo the surgery. She said she is well aware of how difficult the traditional procedure can be.

"I felt great after three days," she said. "I sometimes have to remember to eat now."

The operation involves inserting a tube through the mouth and down the throat. A tiny needle is used to sew pleats in the stomach to reduce its size.

The operation is a variation on one developed by a doctor in Venezuela.

Doane was the first in what is planned to be a 20-patient clinical trial.