Stomach Botox Procedure: The Procedure, Benefits, Risks, and Results
Recently, information about Botox injections in the stomach has been circulating and being promoted through advertisements. People are divided on this technique, some supporting it and others opposing it. So, is Botox injections in the stomach a safe procedure from a medical and scientific perspective, or are they harmful?
Let's learn more about this procedure together.
What is Botox injections in the stomach?
Botox injections in the stomach are a procedure performed endoscopically, in which Botox is injected into different parts of the stomach wall. This delays gastric emptying and keeps the stomach contents in the stomach for a longer period. Therefore, doctors use this technique to treat obesity.
What is Botox?
Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin produced by a gram-positive anaerobic bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. It is the most toxic known biological substance.
Botox injections block certain chemical signals from the nerves, most of which cause muscle contraction. This substance paralyzes muscles, causing them to relax. This property is what we can utilize. It has been widely used for various conditions, first being injected into the muscles around the eyes to treat strabismus (crossed eyes).
How can we benefit from Botox in the stomach?
Injecting Botox into the stomach can be beneficial for weight loss as it is a minimally invasive, cost-effective procedure with no serious side effects.
Injecting this substance into the stomach lining paralyzes and stops the stomach muscles, thus delaying gastric emptying. This leads to earlier satiety and weight loss, making this procedure a potential treatment for obesity.
How is Botox in the stomach performed?
First, the patient must fast for 6-12 hours before the procedure. The patient will then undergo an upper endoscopy under anesthesia.
The injection is administered into the antrum of the stomach.
Then, BTX-A is slowly injected into the stomach wall.
We typically inject 8-10 injections into the posterior gastric wall, 3 into the anterior wall, 2 into the lesser curvature, and 2 into the greater curvature.
This procedure usually takes 20 minutes, and patients can go home after recovering from the anesthesia.
This procedure should be repeated after 12 months.
Who are the eligible patients for gastric Botox?
Not all patients are eligible for this procedure. Here are some criteria a patient should meet:
They must be 18 years of age or older.
They must have a body mass index (BMI) between 30 and 40.
They must be willing to participate in a medically supervised dietary program.
What are the complications of gastric Botox?
There are few or no side effects from this procedure, such as minor bleeding or other surgical complications due to the endoscopy.
In rare cases, some patients may experience abdominal pain or vomiting.
What are the results of Botox injections in the stomach?
After extensive research conducted by several professional doctors, it was observed that the average weight loss was approximately 9 kg, and the Body Mass Index (BMI) decreased by about 3 units. The average time to achieve maximum weight loss was 60 days.
More than half of the patients reported a high level of satisfaction after Botox injections in the stomach. Importantly, no serious complications were observed during or after the procedure.
Finally, after discussing this remarkable procedure and its promising results, would you recommend it?