Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Texas Members Speak at ObesityWeek

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - December 14, 2016) - Presenting on topics ranging from intragastric balloons to sleeve gastrectomy, Houston-based doctors and other professionals from Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Texas at University of Texas recently attended the Obesity Society and American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery's annual ObesityWeek, held this year in New Orleans from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.

Drs. Erik Wilson, Brad Snyder, Todd Wilson, Deborah Horn, and Kulvinder Bajwa contributed to the conference, along with Nurse Practitioner Connie Klein and Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist Carol Wolin-Riklin.

The international conference attracts thousands of attendees, with more than 5,000 people participating in 2015—more than 400 of them coming from 56 different countries around the globe. Organizers aim to educate attendees on the science of obesity, as well as applying surgical interventions to reduce its epidemic prevalence and prevention strategies to keep it from developing into a greater problem.

To that end, experts lead courses, present abstracts and posters, discuss research, provide labs that offer hands-on experience, speak on a variety of related topics, and more.

Among the UT MIST contributions, Houston's Dr. Wilson joined the "Balloons/Endoscopy Didactic" to precede a discussion exploring whether balloons used in weight loss surgery are simply a trend, or whether such a determination can be made yet, just six months after the FDA approved an inflatable device designed to help a patient feel full and discourage overeating.

Dr. Horn served as director of a symposium on "Practical Pharmacotherapy for Obesity Treatment" that covered anti-obesity medications, and spoke on the topic of obesity as a chronic disease, with a focus on anti-obesity medication used for bariatric surgery patients.

Drs. Wilson, Snyder, Wilson, and Bajwa, along with Dr. Sheilendra Mehta and Nurse Practitioner Klein, authored an abstract, "A Randomized Trial: Comparing Reflux Symptoms in Sleeve Gastrectomy Patients With our Without Hiatal Hernia Repair," presented at the event.

This year was the fourth annual ObesityWeek, coinciding with the 33rd annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. The event started with a series of postgraduate courses and continued through workshops, keynote speakers, and other sessions.

The 2017 ObesityWeek conference is set for Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 in Washington, D.C.

UT MIST is made up of surgeons committed to offering surgical solutions to patients seeking the most innovative, safest, and most effective treatments available for a variety of conditions, including chronic obesity.

To learn more about UT Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Texas, the doctors and nurses who work with patients seeking treatment for obesity, or the procedures available, such as sleeve gastrectomy, in Houston, visit utmist.com.