When medication and diet therapies don't relieve severe gastroparesis effects, surgery may be appropriate. Penn Medicine is one of few centers in the Northeast to offer gastric electrical stimulation (also called gastric pacemaker). This specialized gastroparesis treatment has offered some patients life-changing results.
How Is Gastroparesis Treated?
Gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying) is a condition where damaged nerves and muscles in the stomach don't move food through the digestive tract properly (or fast enough).
Gastroparesis has many potential causes. The most common is consistently high blood sugar levels due to diabetes. In that case, doctors refer to the complication as diabetic gastroparesis. When doctors are unable to pinpoint a cause, it's called idiopathic gastroparesis.
Gastroparesis can cause a wide range of symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Symptoms range from mild to severe. It is usually a chronic (lifelong) condition.
While no therapy can cure gastroparesis, medication and dietary therapies have shown helpful for reducing symptoms for many people. If other therapies haven't helped and your gastroparesis symptoms severely disrupt your life, your doctor may consider surgery.
Gastric Pacemaker Surgery for Gastroparesis: Why Choose Penn Medicine?
We recognize the toll that gastroparesis can take on someone's health and daily life. Our patient-centered care model puts your well-being and quality of life at the center of everything we do.
Key advantages of our program include:
- Surgical expertise: Penn's renowned gastrointestinal surgeons routinely perform complicated surgeries with excellent outcomes. Our team has safely performed hundreds of gastric stimulation surgeries. People from all over the East Coast come to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for our surgical expertise. Meet our team.
- Vast network of resources and capabilities: Gastroparesis starts in the stomach, but it can impact many aspects of your physical and emotional health. Penn's resources and expertise in managing this complicated condition are unrivaled in this region. From specialized surgical nutrition procedures and transplant surgery options to counseling, we manage all your care needs.
- Coordinated specialty care: GI surgeons, gastroenterologists and endocrinologists are just a few of the specialists who may weigh in on your care. Doctors of different medical disciplines work side-by-side on your case. Together, we pinpoint the therapies that fit your needs.
- Potential for life-changing results: Gastric stimulation surgery doesn't help everyone with gastroparesis. But for the people who do respond to this treatment, it can be life-changing. Many patients report a profound reduction in nausea and vomiting symptoms.
Surgical Nutrition for Gastroparesis
Surgical nutrition procedures help address malnutrition by delivering nutrition in liquid form directly to the intestine (via a feeding tube) or to the bloodstream (via an IV, called parenteral nutrition).
Parenteral nutrition techniques were pioneered by Penn surgeons more than 50 years ago. Our team of surgeons continues to use the latest care advances to perform all types of surgical nutrition procedures.
Gastric Pacemaker Surgery
Gastric electrical stimulation is not new, but it requires special training and expertise. Our team's experience with this therapy traces back to its FDA approval more than 20 years ago.
During gastric electrical stimulation, a surgeon:
- Makes an incision in the lower abdomen area.
- Carefully positions a small battery-operated device (called a gastric stimulator) under the skin in the abdomen.
- Attaches two wires (leads) that connect the device to a specific area on the outside of the stomach wall.
- Closes up the incision.
After surgery, the surgeon programs the device according to the details of your case. It sends very low electrical shock waves to the stomach at certain times (such as after eating). These electrical currents stimulate the stomach to function properly.
We implant the gastric pacemaker device using the latest minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques. Laparoscopic surgery offers several benefits over traditional open surgery. It lowers the risk of certain complications and leaves a less obvious scar.
In some people with gastroparesis, these mild electrical shocks help the stomach to empty and lessen how often or how severely they experience nausea and vomiting.
Who May Benefit from a Gastric Pacemaker?
Gastric stimulators offer varying levels of relief to many people with gastroparesis. If the device doesn't work for you, your surgeon will perform a second procedure to remove it.
It's important to seek care from an experienced surgeon who can offer guidance on whether it may benefit you. In general, people with diabetic gastroparesis tend to benefit more from this surgery and people with idiopathic gastroparesis (no known cause) may see fewer benefits.
Are You a Candidate for a Gastric Pacemaker?
At Penn, determining whether someone is a candidate for a gastric pacemaker starts with a thorough evaluation and diagnostic tests. You then meet with an expert surgeon to discuss the pros and cons of surgery.
Deciding whether this treatment is right for you takes time and thoughtful consideration. With our patient portal (MyChart by myPennMedicine), we make it easy to connect with your doctor and actively engage in your care.
Request an Appointment
Call 800-789-7366 or request a callback.