SAN CLEMENTE, California, September 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- USGI Medical, Inc. the Incisionless Surgery Company, announced that surgeons in the UK are the first in Europe to offer POSE (Primary Obesity Surgery, Endolumenal) to patients for weight loss. The surgeons used USGI's Incisionless Operating Platform(TM) (IOP), to perform the scar-free procedure designed to reduce the size of the stomach helping patients feel full after consuming less food.

Surgeons Mr. James Byrne and Mr. Jamie Kelly performed Europe's first POSE procedures on six patients at a private hospital in Southampton on August 26. The patients who underwent the procedure returned to work or normal activities within 2-3 days.

Given the lack of long-term success patients experience with diets and weight loss drugs, we're very proud to be the first in Europe to offer this incisionless procedure to help overweight and obese patients feel full and eat less, Mr. Jamie Kelly said. This discreet outpatient procedure should result in less pain, shorter hospitalisation, less risk of infection and no visible scars compared to traditional surgeries performed through the abdomen. Our first patients were back at their jobs without any bandages or signs of surgery within two to three days.

None of the patients experienced any complications other than a slight sore throat.

To perform POSE, surgeons pass the USGI IOP down a patient's throat, and use tools to grasp tissue and deploy the company's specially-designed Expandable Tissue Anchors to create multiple tissue folds around the stomach. An endoscope provides visualization.

Another Southampton surgeon Mr. Michael Van den Bossche recently used the IOP and similar techniques to perform ROSE (Repair of Surgery, Endolumenal) in patients who started to regain weight because their stomach pouches and stomas had stretched out since a previous bariatric surgery. Mr. Van den Bossche will also be performing POSE procedures.

We are proud to be working with leading edge surgeons in Europe to offer Incisionless Surgery to their patients and to pioneer this exciting field, USGI Medical President and Chief Executive Mr. Eugene Chen said. We look forward to expanding Incisionless Surgery across Europe with our distribution partners. We are on track to have distribution relationships in place in all of the major European markets by 2011. Elemental Healthcare Ltd. distributes the IOP in the UK market.

The devices that make up the IOP received the European CE Mark in March 2010.

For more information on the Incisionless Operating Platform and USGI Medical, Inc. visit http://www.usgimedical.com.

About USGI Medical

USGI Medical is committed to the development of technologies to enable Incisionless Surgery - the treatment of diseases through the natural passageways of the body. USGI's Incisionless Operating Platform provides surgeons the operating platform and specialized tools they need to perform surgery through a patient's mouth or other natural orifices, reducing the need for external incisions into the abdomen. Importantly, USGI has demonstrated the capability to reliably and durably approximate GI tract tissue without an incision. Operating through the body's natural orifices offers promise for less pain, shorter hospital stays, reduced risk of wound infection and no external scars - and is rapidly becoming an option demanded by patients and healthcare providers. USGI offers surgeons and gastroenterologists the tools they need to offer millions of potential patients a less invasive surgical option. http://www.usgimedical.com

SOURCE: USGI Medical

CONTACT: Media Contact: Vicky Stoakes, Indigo Cow PR, +44(0)1273-773-516,vicky@indigocow.com .