Doctors in Dayton, Ohio believe they may have found a minimally invasive alternative to gastric bypass surgery for the millions of Americans who are morbidly obese. Physicians at Dayton Interventional Radiology recently performed the first gastric artery embolization procedure as part of their GET LEAN (Gastric Artery Embolization Trial for Lessening Appetite Nonsurgically) study.

According to Outpatient Surgery Magazine, gastric artery embolization is a procedure that uses a small catheter to inject particles tinier than a grain of sand into the left gastric artery to block blood flow to the tiny branches of the artery. The catheter may be introduced into the groin or wrist and directed to the left gastric artery that supplies blood to the upper stomach. The goal of this embolization is to decrease the levels of the hormone ghrelin, which is responsible for appetite.

While GET LEAN is the first human study on gastric artery embolization in the United States, a 2013 study on the procedure was conducted in the former Soviet Union on five patients who lost an average of 45 pounds in six months. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Duke University have also studied the procedure on animals and found significant weight loss and hormone suppression.  

Read the full story to learn more about this experimental procedure.