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The stomach can be reduced temporarily with the gastric balloon or permanently: endoscopically without an incision with the Weight Doctors SLEEVE®, or surgically with a gastric sleeve or gastric bypass.
Medically reviewed byProf. Dr. med. Karl MillerSpecialist in general and visceral surgeryLast updated:
Which routes there are, how they work, what they cost and who carries them out – chapter by chapter.
Weight Doctors® offers both routes to stomach reduction: temporary with the gastric balloon and permanent with the endoscopic Weight Doctors SLEEVE® – for higher BMIs also as an operation with Weight Doctors BARIATRICS®. The treatment is thus based on your starting point and your goal, and not the other way round.
Which method comes into question for you, you clarify in a personal conversation with a specialist. This involves your BMI, related conditions and your previous attempts to lose weight – and whether you are looking for a reversible or a permanent solution.
The Weight Doctors SLEEVE® is a permanent stomach reduction without conventional surgery – endoscopic, as an outpatient, without scars. During a gastroscopy, the stomach wall is gathered from the inside, specifically horizontally and vertically along the large, curved outer side of the stomach. The stomach volume falls by up to 75%: you can take in less food, and hunger can be satisfied more quickly.
In addition, the stomach outlet is narrowed. The stomach holds food for longer, digests it better, and appetite signals reach the brain only with a delay. The feeling of fullness can thus set in sooner and last longer – the stomach reduction therefore works in two ways.
For a long time, permanent reduction of the stomach was only possible with an operation, with the risks and restrictions that a surgical procedure can bring. Endoscopic procedures such as pose® (Primary Obesity Surgery Endoluminal, that is a treatment from inside the stomach) have changed that. The Weight Doctors SLEEVE® combines these technologies with the experience of specialist doctors.
The aim is an effective stomach reduction with as little strain on the body as possible. This is why the Weight Doctors SLEEVE® is one of the minimally invasive procedures: there is no abdominal incision, and access is via the mouth and oesophagus.
For the endoscopic procedures of the Weight Doctors SLEEVE®, a specialised single-use endoscope is used; the stomach wall is prepared with fine instruments. With pose® 3.0 Double Helix, it is folded at the most important points row by row using a point-by-point anchor and suture technique, the so-called snowshoe technique. The stomach can thus become up to 70–75% smaller.
pose® 3.0 Double Helix builds on the idea of pose®, the first permanent stomach reduction without a surgical operation – with lower invasiveness and improved stability. Food intake falls, the feeling of fullness sets in faster and can last longer.
With the nickel-free OverStitch NXT™ technology, the sutures are placed in a Z shape lengthwise along the stomach from bottom to top. It too can reduce the stomach by up to 75%; in some cases, our specialists even observe somewhat greater narrowing with it. Because it manages without nickel, it is suitable for almost all patients who react allergically.
With both technologies, the sutures work together horizontally and vertically. This creates a narrow tube in the stomach, the endo sleeve.
Are you looking for a push to make progress again with losing weight, and do you not want to change anything permanently? Then the time-limited stomach reduction with the gastric balloon may suit you. It is a non-surgical, endoscopic method for treating excess weight and obesity: there are no incisions and no scars, and at the end of the therapy nothing is left in the body.
As a rule, the balloon is introduced via the oesophagus under sedation (twilight sleep) during a simple gastroscopy and filled with blue-dyed saline solution. It takes up 25–30% of the stomach volume and thus works similarly to a stomach reduction: you can only eat smaller meals and stay full for longer.
Depending on the balloon, it stays in the stomach for 6 or 12 months and is then likewise removed by gastroscopy. For longer therapy, there is the Spatz3 gastric balloon for 12 months, whose fill volume can be adjusted – so its effect can be maintained or increased over time. The Allurion gastric balloon comes as a capsule to swallow, with no endoscopy at all, and is passed out naturally after about four months.
All balloons, their wearing periods and prices at a glance: Weight Doctors® GASTRIC BALLOON.
Compared with surgical treatments, endoscopic stomach reduction manages without a surgical procedure. This can keep the medical risks low. With the gastric balloon, the stomach returns to its original state after the therapy.
The reduction works mechanically and without medication – side effects of medicines therefore do not arise. As with any procedure, there are nevertheless risks; your specialist discusses them with you in detail beforehand.
You pay for the gastric balloon yourself. If you would like to spread the costs, financing via Capitec is possible. The key data of the three routes compared:
| Service | Gastric balloon | Weight Doctors SLEEVE® | Weight Doctors BARIATRICS® |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stomach reduction | Balloon fills 25–30% of the stomach | by up to 75% | by up to 90% |
| Duration of the procedure | approx. 20–25 minutes | approx. 30–60 minutes | approx. 60–150 minutes |
| Anaesthetic | Sedation (twilight sleep) or brief general anaesthesia, none with the Allurion gastric balloon | General anaesthesia | General anaesthesia |
| Stay | outpatient | outpatient, approx. 4–5 hours | 1–3 nights as an inpatient |
| Pain | low | low | low |
| Scars | none | none | 3 small incisions |
| Fit to socialise | as a rule after 3–4 days | as a rule after 3–4 days | after 10–14 days |
| Duration of effect | 4, 6 or 12 months | designed for the long term | designed for the long term |
Gastric balloon
Weight Doctors SLEEVE®
Weight Doctors BARIATRICS®
* where the medical indication meets the guidelines. Financing via Capitec possible: Paying in instalments.
The technologies of the Weight Doctors SLEEVE® must be applied carefully and safely by experienced specialist doctors. This is why Weight Doctors® trains all its specialists intensively in its treatment philosophy. The procedures build on one another in a modular way: this allows the stomach reduction to be readjusted and better controlled later.
Especially in the treatment of obesity, the experience of the team, the routine of the clinic and the expertise of the treating doctors matter. These determine how safely the procedure goes and how well complications and side effects can be avoided – you only have one stomach. Weight Doctors® therefore relies on professional experience, quality of treatment and safety in medicine and hygiene.
The Weight Doctors® team has been treating patients since 2017; more than 5,000 have received an endo sleeve, today with the technologies pose® 3.0 Double Helix and OverStitch NXT™. Since 2021, Weight Doctors® has also offered obesity surgery operations with Weight Doctors BARIATRICS®: the surgical gastric sleeve and the gastric bypass.
“A stomach reduction without surgery offers all the strengths of minimally invasive surgery, without having to accept the sometimes serious disadvantages of other obesity surgery measures.”
Prof. MillerSpecialist in general and visceral surgeryPD Dr. WichmannSpecialist in visceral surgery & expert in endobariatricsDr. JohnSpecialist in internal medicine & gastroenterology
Dr. MörmelSpecialist in internal medicineIf you would like to spread the costs over a longer period, partial payment through our partner Capitec is possible. You determine the term yourself. You submit the application together with us in the consultation, by telephone or entirely paperless online – more under Payment in instalments.
The requirement is sufficient creditworthiness. In detail:
You can get advice at all Weight Doctors® locations. The operations of Weight Doctors BARIATRICS® take place at the Weight Doctors® Nationalklinik in Wertheim, with an intermediate care unit and aftercare under one roof. Enter your postcode or choose your city:
Travel time: © openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT | Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Postcodes: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).
WertheimNationalklinikAachenKatschhof 3BerlinFriedrichstraße 71DortmundRosemeyerstraße 2–4DüsseldorfAm Seestern 4EindhovenVan Dijklaan 9FrankfurtDreieichstraße 59FreiburgHeinrich-von-Stephan-Straße 20HamburgRothenbaumchaussee 20HanoverWohlenbergstraße 4DHeidelbergEppelheimer Straße 8LeipzigZschochersche Allee 68MunichArabellastraße 17NurembergHauptmarkt 11SalzburgInnsbrucker Bundesstraße 79BStuttgartImmenhofer Straße 21WiesbadenMainzer Straße 98-102Your question isn’t listed? Your specialist will take time for it during the consultation.
That depends on your BMI, your related conditions and your goal: the gastric balloon gives a time-limited push, the Weight Doctors SLEEVE® reduces the stomach permanently without an incision, and for higher BMIs the gastric sleeve or gastric bypass are options. You make the decision together with your specialist in the consultation.
Our procedures are suitable for people with excess weight or obesity from a BMI of around 27. In rare cases, this can be deviated from downwards if it appears medically sensible. With the surgical gastric sleeve (laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, LSG), we also treat patients with a BMI above 60. In any case, you should be motivated to change your lifestyle in a way that supports the effect of the treatment. You can work out your BMI with the BMI calculator.
As a rule, only slight pain and a quick recovery. The procedures leave no incisions and no scars, and you are usually back home the same day.
The procedure itself takes, depending on the method, about 20 minutes with the gastric balloon up to 60 minutes with the Weight Doctors SLEEVE®. From admission to discharge, you are with us for about 2.5–5 hours on the day of treatment.
In almost all cases the same day: the stay is as an outpatient, and you sleep in your own bed. On request, a short inpatient stay with an overnight stay, medical monitoring and infusion therapy is also possible – please ask us about this.
That depends on the method chosen and varies greatly from case to case – depending on your state of health and your commitment to a long-term change in diet and lifestyle. With therapies lasting over a year and with adjustable or permanent endoscopic procedures, greater weight loss is possible than with short therapies. Results vary from person to person.
With the gastric balloon, yes: it is removed after the wearing period or – with the Allurion gastric balloon – passed out naturally, after which the stomach is back to its original size. The Weight Doctors SLEEVE®, by contrast, is designed to be permanent. Because its procedures build on one another in a modular way, the reduction can be readjusted later.
Yes, via our partner Capitec; you decide the term yourself. You submit the application together with us in the consultation, by phone or online without paper forms. A sufficient credit rating is a requirement: main residence in Germany, no negative Schufa entries and disposable income from employment or a pension. Students, trainees, and homemakers can enter a second person from the same household as the borrower. More under Paying in instalments.
The basis of every treatment is the Weight Doctors® MEMBERSHIP: the Weight Doctors® App with a digital body scale, the 3D Bodyscan, Weight Doctors® Mira for questions about nutrition and everyday life, and your personal 360 coaches. This way, you and your specialist keep an eye on your progress. More on the support: Weight Doctors® 360°.
You choose how you would like to be advised: in person on site, by video or by phone – always with no obligation and in a one-to-one conversation. Our team speaks German, Dutch and English.
The first step is a conversation: choose your treatment, location and appointment online here – consultation on site, by video or by phone.
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Mira
Digital assistant from Weight Doctors®
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Weight Doctors® GLP-1 pharmacotherapyMedication-based, no procedure3–12 months · from €599Medically supervised pharmacotherapy with regular progress monitoring – with no procedure at all.
No procedure
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Weight Doctors® GASTRIC BALLOONTemporary, also swallowable6 or 12 months · from R 69,000A temporary companion for 6 or 12 months – also swallowable, with no endoscopy at all.
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Find out more Weight Doctors® GASTRIC BALLOONBook a consultation
Weight Doctors SLEEVE®Endoscopic, permanent30–60 min · from R 219,000Permanent stomach reduction without conventional surgery – endoscopic, outpatient, without scars.
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Weight Doctors BARIATRICS®Surgical, minimally invasive1–3 nights · from R 289,000Gastric bypass or gastric sleeve surgery for higher BMIs, incl. preliminary examination and aftercare.
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Weight Doctors® 360°Nutrition coachingper session · from R 2,765Nutrition coaching and support in everyday life – in person, by video and in the app.
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Weight Doctors® MEMBERSHIPThe foundation of every therapyMedical oversight, app, scales, 3D Bodyscan and aftercare – the foundation of every Weight Doctors® therapy.
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