ReviewBariatric manipulation of gastric arteries: A systematic review on the potential concept for treatment of obesity

- Gastric artery manipulation may cause weight loss.
- Data on its safety is scarce.

BackgroundGastric artery embolization (GAE) has recently received attention as a minimally invasive intervention in bariatric setting.AimsThe current systematic review aimed to gather and categorizes the existing data in the literature regarding bariatric gastric artery manipulation. This will highlight the importance of this potential concept as a therapeutic modality.MethodsA PubMed/Medline search was conducted to identify animal and human studies investigating the effect of gastric artery manipulation on weight, ghrelin, obesity, and tissue adiposity.ResultsA total of 9 studies including 6 animal experiments with 71 subjects and 3 human studies with a total of 25 patients were retrieved. Animal subjects underwent chemical embolization while particle embolization was only used in human subjects. Five animal studies and 1 human study reported decreased ghrelin concentration. Three animal experiments and 2 human studies showed a significant weight change following GAE. There was no report regarding a serious adverse event requiring surgical or interventional management.ConclusionCurrently, data regarding the potential role of gastric artery manipulation in decreasing the ghrelin and potential weight loss is scarce.