Bariatric manipulation of gastric arteries: A systematic review on the potential concept for treatment of obesity.

BACKGROUND: Gastric artery embolization (GAE) has recently received attention as a minimally invasive intervention in bariatric setting.

AIMS: The current systematic review aimed to gather and categorizes the existing data in the literature regarding bariatric gastric artery manipulation. This will highlight the importance of this potential concept as a therapeutic modality.

METHODS: A PubMed/Medline search was conducted to identify animal and human studies investigating the effect of gastric artery manipulation on weight, ghrelin, obesity, and tissue adiposity.

RESULTS: A total of 9 studies including 6 animal experiments with 71 subjects and 3 human studies with a total of 25 patients were retrieved. Animal subjects underwent chemical embolization while particle embolization was only used in human subjects. Five animal studies and 1 human study reported decreased ghrelin concentration. Three animal experiments and 2 human studies showed a significant weight change following GAE. There was no report regarding a serious adverse event requiring surgical or interventional management.

CONCLUSION: Currently, data regarding the potential role of gastric artery manipulation in decreasing the ghrelin and potential weight loss is scarce.