Dr. Matthew Brengman to be Among First in Nation to Perform Procedure
Parham Doctors’ Hospital and Advanced Surgical Partners of Virginia have partnered with Apollo Endosurgery to offer the incision-less, non-surgical ORBERA™ Intragastric Balloon procedure to patients living with moderate obesity in the mid-Atlantic region.
Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month, ORBERA™ is a soft balloon that occupies space in the stomach. In a non-surgical (endoscopic) procedure done under a mild sedative, the deflated ORBERA™ balloon is placed into the stomach, and then filled with saline until reaching approximately the size of a grapefruit. The balloon remains in place for a period of six months, aiding in portion control and ultimately assisting in sustainable weight loss at a rate of 3.1 times those who engaged in diet and exercise alone.
“While new to the United States, ORBERA™ is a weight loss device with more than 220,000 balloons distributed in over 80 countries, and approximately 230 published papers documenting its clinical results,” said Todd Newton, chief executive officer of Apollo Endosurgery. “ORBERA™ is a proven, innovative, and non-surgical solution to help fight the obesity epidemic.”
ORBERA™ fills the treatment gap that exists for patients who are not appropriate for or not considering invasive surgery, but for whom diet and exercise, or pharmaceutical interventions, have not worked. It grants patients access to non-surgical options for moderate obesity (those with a body mass index between 30 and 40), addressing a critical and growing health issue in the United States.
“The ORBERA™ Intragastric Balloon is a beautifully simple product with an established track record of weight loss efficacy,” said Dr. Matthew Brengman, medical director for the Weight Loss Program at Parham Doctors’ Hospital. “With such an impressive number of worldwide implants during the past twenty years, successful patient outcomes are the standard.”
Obesity affects more than 78.6 million U.S. adults and is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States. Obesity increases the risk of health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and certain types of cancers. In 2008, it was estimated that more than $147 billion is spent annually in medical costs related to obesity, and this figure is expected to grow by $43 to $66 billion each year in the U.S. by 2030.
Brengman is one of an elite group of bariatric surgeons nationwide who has been trained to perform ORBERA™ placements, and is the only physician in Virginia currently offering the groundbreaking procedure. He is a pioneer in the field of weight loss surgery, with special interests in minimally-invasive advanced laparoscopic techniques.
For more information about the ORBERA™ Intragastric Balloon, Advanced Surgical Partners of Virginia, and Dr. Matthew Brengman, visit http://advancedsurgicalpartnersofva.com/services/gastric-balloon.dot.