Use of natural openings may ease weight-loss surgery

In the fight against obesity, doctors have deployed stern warnings, dieting tips, liposuction and open-incision bariatric surgery. But some surgeons have found another avenue for weight loss.

A handful of surgeons are using natural orifices -- such as the mouth or the vagina -- to perform bariatric surgery, which reduces stomach size.

Surgical instruments and a tiny camera travel through the patients' natural body openings to reach the desired organ in the procedure, known as natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery. In the bariatric procedure, the surgeon trims the stomach to a smaller size or stitches a slight pouch in it to make the patient feel full after a modest meal. Click here for full article.