Portion Control Purge Button

FEATURE

Do you ever wish you could lose weight with the push of a button? A new bariatric device called an “A-tube,” is being used to help overweight patients regulate how much they eat… after they’ve already eaten. The groundbreaking procedure involves inserting a thin, silicone rubber tube through the mouth with an endoscope and attaching it from the inner stomach wall to the outer surface of the abdomen via a small incision.

On the outer abdomen, the A-tube is attached to a discreet, poker chip-sized “skin-port,” which is equipped with a valve that patients can open and close to control the flow of contents in the stomach. After each meal, the patient empties a portion of the stomach contents through the A-tube by attaching a handheld device to the skin-port. This emptying process is referred to as “aspiration.”