Apollo Hospitals has introduced an incision-less bariatric surgery procedure, which requires no hospitalisation.
A memorandum of understanding was signed on Wednesday by the hospital with Apollo Endosurgery in Austin, Texas, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Beth Israel Medical Centre, New York City, USA.
Apollo Hospitals chairman Prathap C. Reddy, who signed the MoU, told reporters here that the procedure would not only reduce trauma for patients but also speed up their recovery. The surgery would cost less.
“As in heart disease and diabetes, India heads the world in the number of obese [persons] though percentage-wise, it is less. Obesity causes morbidity, produces gastric diseases and aggravates cardiac diseases,” Dr. Reddy said, adding that a disciplined lifestyle could prevent obesity.
According to Apollo Hospitals bariatric surgeon Prasanna Kumar Reddy, the procedure is done using sophisticated equipment attached to the tip of an endoscope.
The equipment costs $1,800 to 2,000.
Trained bariatric surgeons will teach their counterparts in Apollo Hospitals in India in the next few months.
Beth Israel Medical Centre's bariatric surgeon Elliot Goodman said that a trained bariatric surgeon could perform the endoluminal surgery as outpatient procedure in 30 to 40 minutes, allowing patients to return to their routine the next day.
The MoU was felicitated by PrimeSource Medtech Group, which introduced bariatric surgery in India in 2003.
