Adding Short to Left Gastric Artery Embolization for the Treatment of Obesity: Safety and Effectiveness

Purpose: This study assessed the safety and effectiveness of a technical modification that involves adding short gastric artery (SGA) embolization to left gastric artery (LGA) embolization.

Material and methods: This retrospective single-center study analyzed twenty obese patients (median age of 53.5 (30-73)) who were not eligible for bariatric surgery and underwent bariatric embolization with 300-500-µm microspheres in addition to a lifestyle counseling program between March 2021 and July 2022. Eight patients had LGA + SGA embolization, and twelve had LGA embolization alone. The primary outcome measure was total body weight loss (TBWL) at 6 months in the SGA + LGA and the LGA-only cohorts. Safety was assessed, defined as the 30-day adverse events rate according to the SIR classification.

Results: The mean 6-month post-embolization TBWL in the SGA + LGA cohort was 7.3 kg (95%CI 2.1-12.4; p = .01) and 4.1 kg (95%CI 0.4-8.6; p = 0.034) in the LGA-only cohort (mean difference - 3.1 kg ± 2.8; 95%CI (- 9.1-2.8); p = .28). The mean 6-month post-embolization TBWL in the entire cohort was 5.3 kg (p < .01). The rate of complications was similar between the two groups.

Conclusion: Combined SGA and LGA embolization is safe and effective to treat obesity. Larger studies are needed to determine whether SGA + LGA embolization results in more significant weight loss than LGA embolization alone.