Left gastric artery embolization is a surgical procedure that has been shown to be effective for weight reduction for some years.

GASTRIC ARTERY EMBOLIZATION: WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

In practice, this procedure is based on the closure of some arteries of the stomach, which, being no longer supplied by the blood, are “deactivated” and no longer produce the hunger hormone, ghrelin .

This closure of the arteries is first achieved by introducing injection beads, which occlude the arteries and prevent the release of ghrelin.
In this way the patient feels less hunger and consequently loses weight.

EMBOLIZATION OF THE GASTRIC ARTERY: THE RISKS ARE KNOWN TODAY

However, after the first encouraging results on small patient samples appeared in 2016 following animal studies, a new study is now dismissing the procedure .

Emphasizing the unexpected risks.
In fact, according to a study presented at the conference of the Radiological Society of North America by Dr.  Edwin A. Takahashi , of the 16 patients analyzed a month and a half after surgery, all had had a worrying loss of skeletal muscle tissue. 

It therefore seems that patients undergoing left gastric artery embolization in America have had not only a loss of body fat, but also and above all of muscle mass.

The loss of muscle mass is equivalent to a metabolic slowdown and more. It is also linked to increased health risks, such as heart risks and osteoporosis.

Sarcopenia would therefore be the side effect of embolization of the left gastric artery .

Adequate nutritional and physical activity therapy should therefore be considered to avoid this loss, explains the doctor.