Patients at first undergo a 15-minute operation to have a tube inserted through their abdomen into their stomach. Once it is fitted, they can attach a small pump to the exit of the tube, which washes water into the stomach before undigested food is sucked back into a bag. When not is use, the end of the tube, which remains in the stomach, is sealed with a special stopper.
Those fitted with the device avoid digesting as much as a third of their food by pumping it out after each meal and flushing it down the toilet.
‘No one needs to ever know,’ the manufacturers claim in their marketing material, although they advise careful chewing of food to prevent blockages to the plastic tubes.
British gastroenterologist Dr Anthony Shonde plans to offer what he describes as ‘an excellent alternative to obesity surgery’ to private patients at his London clinic from September.
He said: ‘Fitting and use [of the device] is not dangerous and the weight loss results are nearly as good as surgery – but without the risks.’
Although the concept will sound repulsive to many, he said the principle was just ‘a reverse of PEG feeding, which we have used for more than 20 years to feed those too sick to take food by mouth’.
But Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said the device was nothing short of ‘vomit on demand’.
He said: ‘I cannot believe we have now invented a gadget that allows people to make gluttons of themselves and eat like pigs and not suffer the consequences. It appals me to think people will be able to press a button to empty the contents of their stomachs.