[Gastric aspiration therapy is a possible alternative to treatment of obesity]

Aspiration therapy with AspireAssist is a novel endoscopic obesity treatment. Patients aspirate approximately 30% of an ingested meal through a draining system connected to a percutanous endoscopic gastrostomy tube. AspireAssist was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and it induces weight loss comparable to the weight loss observed after bariatric surgery, but with a lower risk of complications. Few clinical studies about the efficacy and safety of AspireAssist have been carried out and published. Thus, further intervention studies evaluating acute as well as long-term effects are warranted.