medwireNews: Giving semaglutide to people undergoing minimally invasive endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) may bring weight loss closer to that induced by bariatric surgery, shows research.
The small randomized study, due to be presented at the virtual Digestive Disease Week 2021, involved 58 participants undergoing ESG, who were assigned to take semaglutide at a maximum dose of 1.5 mg/week or placebo, starting from within 1 month of the procedure.
Both groups lost weight, but from around 6 months, weight loss in the semaglutide group began to outstrip that of the placebo group, reaching an average of 26.7% by the end of the 11-month follow-up, compared with 19.6% among those given placebo.
Participants in the semaglutide group also lost an average 12.69% of their fat mass, whereas the placebo group lost a significantly smaller 9.04%, and their average glycated hemoglobin level was significantly lower.
Presenting the data to press, Anna Carolina Hoff (Angioskope Brazil, São José dos Campos) noted that the weight loss outcomes achieved with ESG plus semaglutide “approach bariatric surgery outcomes.”
But she added that surgery is indicated only at a high BMI, or after comorbidities have developed, and only 2% of eligible people undergo the procedure. By contrast, she said, ESG can be performed at a lower BMI, making it available to more people, including those who do not wish to undergo surgery.
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