Nearly one in five adults with obesity has tried a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medication. However, many stop taking them because of cost, side effects, or concerns about long-term use.
About 70 per cent of people regain much of the weight they lost within 18 months of stopping the drugs and lose many of the health benefits.
A minimally invasive outpatient procedure may help prevent this weight regain, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week 2026.
The experimental endoscopic procedure, called duodenal mucosal resurfacing, uses targeted heat to gently ablate (burn) the inner lining of the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine just below the stomach. This is thought to stimulate the growth of new, healthy tissue, potentially creating a metabolic reset that helps the body maintain weight loss.
The blinded, randomised trial included 45 participants who had lost at least 15 per cent of their body weight on tirzepatide and then stopped the drug. Of these, 29 received the procedure and 16 underwent a sham treatment.
Participants lost about 18.1 kg while on GLP-1 therapy. Six months after stopping the medication, those who received the sham procedure regained 40 per cent more weight than those who received the real treatment.
Those who underwent more extensive resurfacing regained only about 3.2kg and maintained more than 80 per cent of their weight loss, while the control group regained roughly twice that amount.
The difference between the groups continued to widen from one to six months after the procedure, suggesting durable weight maintenance.
Importantly, no serious complications were reported, and most patients resumed normal activities within a day.
The approach is still being studied in a larger ongoing trial, but researchers hope it could offer a safe and lasting way to maintain weight loss without ongoing medication.
