Is Intragastric Botulinum Toxin A Injection Effective in Obesity Treatment?

[AIMS] The objective of this prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy of intragastric botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) injection for the treatment of obesity.

[MATERIALS AND METHODS] The study was performed between January and August 2019. This is a prospective study. After 6-12 hours of fasting, the patients were submitted to upper GI endoscopy under sedation for the injection of BTX-A. A total of 250 U of BTA-X was diluted with 10 ml of 0.9% saline. Injections were administered into the gastric antrum, each containing 1 ml of prepared solution (25 U BX-A + 1 ml saline). Continuous data were compared using a two-sample -test. Statistical significance was determined as ≤ 0.05. All statistical analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows 22.1 software (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA).

[RESULTS] A total of 56 patients were studied. Mean weight before gastric Botox was 85.25 ± 14.02, and mean weight after gastric Botox was 76.98 ± 12.68. Mean weight loss was approximately 9 kg in studied patients. BMI decreased about 3 units. The mean time for maximum weight loss was 60.39 ± 37.43 days. A total of 49 patients (87.5%) had reported decrease in appetite and early satiety. About 53.6% of patients were satisfied. No complications resulting from the endoscopic procedure were observed in this series.

[CONCLUSIONS] Intragastric BTX-A injection can be beneficial in weight loss. It is a minimally invasive, cost-effective procedure, without serious side effects.