Why is Dr. Terry Simpson doing a Gastric Plication surgery study?
The purpose of our Gastric Imbrication study is to get the surgery covered by U.S. insurance companies. 
We have already told you that Gastric Plication surgery has been proven worldwide for over a decade. But only now is it being considered to be a standard surgical procedure in the United States.
Imbricated Lap-band Surgery (iLap)
Lap-band surgery combined with Gastric Imbrication (Banded Gastric Plication). Super morbidly obese people have been given gastric bypass surgery over Lap-band surgery in the past because it is slightly more effective. But bypass surgery requires radical alterations to your stomach and intestines that very likely won't be fully reversible. Weight loss rates with Gastric Plication are almost identical to Gastric Bypass. Gastric Plication is even easier to reverse than Lap-band surgery. Bariatric surgeons have been looking for a surgical method for super obese people that is not as destructive as gastric bypass surgeries. The combination of Gastric Plication with Lap-band surgery may very possibly be that solution. The two most reversible weight loss surgeries combined may allow extremely overweight people to lose all the weight they need to lose without surgical alteration to their stomach or intestines. This makes radical weight loss much safer for the patient and that is why we are also studying Imbricated Lap-band Surgery (the combination of Gastric Plication surgery and Lap-band surgery).
How long is Dr. Simpson's study of Gastric Plication (imbrication) surgery going to take?
18 months or one and one half years. During that time patients that are accepted into the study must follow a set schedule of regular office visits. Don't worry, the schedule is the same as that of any weight loss surgery. You don't have to devote any additional time. But we have to document your progress in a little more detail than the average bariatric surgery. We will document your entire journey through the Gastric Plication study following this schedule:
- Your initial visit with us during which we will screen you and make certain you are eligible for the study and that is is the right thing for you to do.
- Consultation visit about seven days prior to Gastric Plication surgery - instructions for what to do prior to surgery.
- You have Gastric Plication surgery
- First week after Gastric Plication surgery - most time intensive period for you. We make sure you do all the things you need to do to heal as fast as you can.
- Regular visits to see us for the next eighteen months - while you transition into your new thinner lifestyle.
More about your first visit with Dr. Simpson and his staff
First thing we do is go over the consent form you must agree to and sign (go here to find it):
Sign-up for Gastric Plication Surgery
- Then we answer all of your questions. So be sure to think of a few and write them down so you don't forget.
- If you decide you want to do the study we do some examinations and maybe some tests just to make sure you qualify.
- We learn about your past efforts at losing weight and your medical history. We need to know what medications you are taking. So you might want to make a list ahead of time.
- We get you on a scale and measure your height and compute your BMI. We also measure your waist and hips and you even get a medical examination.
- We will have you pee in a cup so we can test it and we take some blood (not much). We make certain female patients are not pregnant (pregnancy is not a good time to have weight loss surgery).
- You will get an electrocardiogram if you are over 50. You might get an x-ray of your esophagus (esophagram) if you have reflux symptoms (painful swallowing and/or heartburn).
- Our psychologist will talk to you about doing our study of Gastric Plication surgery.
- Our nutritionist will talk to you about the foods you eat. They will make certain you understand that you must eat healthy foods after having bariatric surgery.
- Our fitness expert will teach your about the importance of exercise to your health and help you set up your own program.
If you qualify for Gastric Plication surgery and your test results are good, the surgery is scheduled.
About visits you will have with Dr. Terry Simpson after having Gastric Plication surgery
We get to see you again one week after Gastric Plication surgery
You will get to visit Dr. Simpson one month after surgery. Then we get to see you again on the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, twelfth, fifteenth, and eighteenth months after your Gastric Plication surgery.
We teach you what to eat to be healthy, how to exercise and how to identify behaviors that work against your weight loss goals. Our dietician will help you master the art of eating well after Gastric Plication surgery.
We will be measuring you throughout the Gastric Plication study - your height, weight, and from those we will compute your BMI. Your waist and hips will also be measured and all of it will be kept as a record of your progress.
We will do blood tests on you again during your sixth and eighteenth month visits.
We will be coaching you throughout the Gastric Plications study's post surgical period (and for the rest of your life if you want). But we will also get feedback from you about your experience in the study.
You will have a physical exam and another esophagram (x-ray of your esophagus) on month twelve.
This is not just a study - you will be our patient and we want to be a part of your life
We hope the best thing for you in this deal is becoming our patient. Dr. Simpson has more years of experience with bariatric surgery than any any doctor in Arizona. He is the surgeon who has the skill set to introduce a new surgery. You might ask, "Why do I want a new weight loss surgery? Maybe it would be best to stick with a proven method?" Well our answer to that is that typically new surgical procedures get introduced because they are better. Gastric Plication is a profoundly less invasive surgery than any other and it is one of the most effective weight loss surgeries ever. Remember too that Gastric Plication is not a new surgery. It has been proven and in use worldwide for over a decade. Add to these facts that our post surgical support is the finest available anywhere, and you have a great opportunity to get the most advanced bariatric surgery from a doctor that will truly care for you.
We require that you read the Research Subject Information and Consent Form and sign it:
Sign-up for Gastric Plication Surgery
It tells you everything we just told you here and a whole lot more. If you have any questions, please call us.
