In a recent study, the FDA approved AspireAssist device resulted in more weight loss in obese patients than in lifestyle counseling alone.
The AspireAssist System is an endoscopic weight loss device where an endoscopically placed percutaneous gastronomy tube essentially drains about 30 percent of calories from each meal. It features the gastronomy tube and an external device to promote the drainage. It is meant to be used alongside lifestyle or diet and exercise counseling for the purpose of weight loss in obese patients.
Treatment Struggles in Obesity
The research authors wrote that the path to successful weight loss “increases progressively from lifestyle counseling to pharmacotherapy to surgical intervention” but that the “availability and utilization”‘ of these helpful therapies are hardly available to most patients since “less than 2% of people who qualify for either pharmacotherapy or surgical intervention [receive] those therapies,”
However, part of the reason why surgery, for example, is not often utilized is the invasive aspect of surgery, the possible complications, and the high costs associated with these interventions.
Due to these problems, researchers have turned their attentions to endoscopic obesity therapies for those patients who struggle to lose weight with diet, exercise, and medications but who don’t qualify for or want bariatric surgery.
The researchers stated in their study that “The weight loss efficacy and safety profile of AspireAssist suggest this treatment approach may help bridge the therapeutic gap between more conservative lifestyle modification and the established bariatric surgical procedures for people with Class II and Class III obesity.”
How Much Weight Did Study Participants Lose?
In a 52 week clinical trial, researchers took 207 participants who had a BMI of 35-55 kg/m2 and randomly assigned them in a 2:1 ratio to either AspireAssist plus lifestyle counseling or lifestyle counseling alone.
The goal was to find out how much average weight loss would occur in each group and to find out how many participants managed to achieve a minimum of 25 percent excess weight loss.
By the end of the 52 weeks the AspireAssist group lost an average of 31.5 percent of their excess body weight while the lifestyle counseling group only lost an average of 9.8 percent of their excess body weight. From the AspireAssist group, 58.6 percent of participants lost at least 25 percent of their excess body weight while only 15.3 percent of the participants in the lifestyle counseling group did.
The AspireAssist group also had much greater improvements in their A1c levels.
The study authors concluded that the AspireAssist System was associated with more weight loss than diet and exercise counseling alone.
Something interesting that they found was that “Despite the removal of a portion of ingested calories in the AspireAssist group, there was no evidence of a compensatory increase in food intake during or between meals to compensate for the reduction in energy intake,” and that “This observation implicates central reward pathways and chronic lifestyle behaviors in driving food consumption.”
Side Effects of AspireAssist System
During the study, the most frequently reported adverse events happened to be abdominal pain and discomfort and some irritation after the tubing was inserted. “Serious adverse events were reported in 3.6% of participants in the AspireAssist group.”
Reuters Health reported the breakdown of adverse events:
“Common adverse events in the device group included peristomal granulation tissue (40.5%), abdominal pain within four weeks (37.8%), and nausea/vomiting or peristomal irritation (17.1% in both groups). About 90% of adverse events were related to the tube, and half occurred within the first week of placement.”
Further reading on treatments for obesity:
Weight–Loss Surgery Now Recognized As “Standard Treatment” for …
Swallowing a Balloon for Weight Loss?
Acceptance-Based Weight Loss Treatment Better than Traditional …
FDA Approves New Weight–Loss Drug Saxenda
Photo Credit: AspireBariatrics.com