Can gastric botulinum toxin A injection be used as minimally invasive procedure in the short-term treatment of obesity?

Background/Aim: Gastric botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) injection is a type of endoscopic obesity treatment option that delays gastric emptying. However, there is little and contradictory information concerning the treatment efficacy of BTX-A injection. This study evaluated the treatment efficacy of BTX-A injection in the treatment of obesity. Materials and Methods: This was an open-label, prospective study of obese individuals with a body mass index >30 kg/m2 admitted to our clinic. The sample consisted of 72 consecutive treatment-naive patients with obesity divided into age-sex-matched three groups: gastric BTX-A injection (study group), calorie-restricted (15-20 Kcal/kg) diet (control) and bariatric surgery (BS) (control) groups. In the study group, 200 IU BTX-A was injected to the antrum and corpus endoscopically. The study and control groups were compared for their total body weight loss (TBWL) and excess body weight loss (EBWL) at the 6th month. Results: Gastric BTX-A injection therapy was applied to 24 patients. The mean age was 39.1 +/- 9.1/years. 54.1% of the patients (n = 13) was female. At the 6th month, the mean TBWL and EBWL of patients were; 10% +/- 4.1 and 37.2% +/- 13.9 for gastric BTXA injection group, 5% +/- 2.3 and 20.2% +/- 9.3 for diet group, 30.7% +/- 5.3 and 66.9% +/- 14.4 for BS group. Patients who underwent gastric BTX-A injection lost weight more effectively than patients who were on diet alone, while BS patients lost weight more effectively than those who had gastric BTX-A injection (P < 0.001). In the gastric BXT-A injection group, the first 3-month delta EBWL and TBWL (change of EBWL and TBWL percentages) were found significantly higher than the 3-6th month and 6-12th month (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001). Conclusion: Gastric BTX-A injection is a minimally invasive and short-term effective method that can be used in the treatment of obesity.