Start with the procedure decision
ESG may be one option within specialist weight-management care, but this page cannot determine whether it is appropriate for you.
Before comparing destinations or offers, ask a specialist multidisciplinary service to assess the case, explain alternatives and identify the team responsible for follow-up and complications.
What ESG does
A flexible endoscope enters through the mouth. Stitches placed through the stomach wall create folds and form a narrower shape. The procedure description says stomach tissue is not removed.
This describes the technique. It does not establish candidacy or predict a result.
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), procedure description, section 2.3.
What the overall care plan should identify
NICE places ESG in a specialist multidisciplinary weight-management service and calls for standard clinical governance and consent.
A useful comparison should name the team responsible for care and explain the care plan rather than present an endoscopy appointment in isolation.
Source: NICE recommendations 1.1–1.3.
Quick answers for planning your decision
Candidacy
Only an appropriately qualified clinical team with the relevant medical information can assess whether ESG or another pathway may be suitable.
Recovery planning
Ask the treating service for its planned stay, diet progression, review schedule, warning signs, contact route and any travel restrictions that apply to the proposed plan.
Expected outcomes
The supplied sources do not support a universal patient outcome. Ask the clinical team to explain realistic expectations for your circumstances and how progress would be monitored.
Cost
The supplied sources do not support a current price figure. Compare like-for-like care: what each offer includes and excludes, alongside individualized clinical advice.
Medical disclaimer
This guide provides general information, not diagnosis, personal medical advice or a treatment recommendation. Evidence is uncertain, and individual risks and possible benefits vary. Only an appropriately qualified clinical team with access to the relevant medical information can assess candidacy and provide individualized consent.
The guide does not establish eligibility, provider acceptance, clinician participation, availability, booking, price, provider ranking or a personal outcome. Confirm current clinical and commercial details directly with the team responsible for care.
Four questions to settle before comparing providers
Who determines candidacy?
A specialist clinical team should assess the case within a multidisciplinary weight-management service. Bookimed, a destination preference or a public profile cannot establish eligibility.
Which recovery details should you request?
Ask the treating service to explain the planned stay, diet progression, review schedule, warning signs, contact route and any travel-related restrictions that apply to the proposed plan.
Who handles follow-up and complications?
Request the name of the team responsible for care, the after-hours contact, the remote-review plan and what happens if a problem develops after you return home. Clarify which provider or local service is expected to act.
What makes offers comparable?
Compare the same procedure and care. Ask about the named clinician and team, facility and anesthesia, requested tests, medications, nutrition or behavioral support, follow-up, complication care and every stated exclusion.
What patient questions suggest you should compare
Patient takeaway: compare the proposed procedure, clinical assessment, support and follow-up together. A destination or headline cost does not show whether two offers provide the same care.
Connect cost questions to candidacy, goals and support
Useful action: ask why the pathway is proposed, what care it includes and how expectations will be discussed before comparing cost.
Check the method and alternatives behind each offer
Useful action: ask whether offers describe the same procedure, team, support and exclusions before treating one as less expensive.
Keep initial matching separate from clinical assessment
Useful action: prepare the history, records and tests requested by the reviewing clinical team.
Choose an aftercare plan, not only a country
Useful action: request written answers about recovery, remote review, urgent contacts and responsibility after travel.
How the Bookimed request analysis was prepared
Bookimed examined 42 ESG-mapped requests from 16 Aug 2025 through 16 Aug 2026. Of these, 41 contained enough scrubbed patient-authored text for question-theme analysis.
Price or package questions appeared in 20 of the 41 analyzable requests. Eligibility or health context and outcome goals each appeared in 19; method or device questions in 16; alternatives in 10; provider or country and timing questions each in 10; and travel logistics in 9.
The themes overlap, so one request could appear in several counts. These overlapping counts are descriptive patterns from this Bookimed cohort only. They do not measure the wider market, clinical eligibility, provider quality, treatment results or conversion.
Only aggregate patterns are presented. Patient text, contact details and private identifiers are not shown. Missing text and classification choices may affect the results.
The supplied analysis does not identify the classification tool or document a separate quality-control procedure. No tool, reviewer, validation rate or additional process should be inferred.
Compare ESG with non-procedural care and surgery
| Question | ESG | Medical or lifestyle pathway | Bariatric surgery |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the physical intervention? | Endoscopic suturing performed through the mouth; the NICE description says stomach tissue is not removed. | Ask the specialist service which non-procedural alternatives may apply and how they would be assessed. | Ask which specific operation is proposed and how its consent discussion differs from ESG. |
| What should you compare? | Why ESG is considered, the technique, named team, consent discussion, follow-up and what the offer includes. | Why the plan is considered, who supervises it and when the team would review or change course. | Why that operation is considered, the named team, consent discussion, follow-up and what the offer includes. |
| What can this guide decide? | It cannot decide which option is medically appropriate for an individual. That requires specialist multidisciplinary assessment. | ||
Comparison framework: NICE recommendations and the joint guideline from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE–ESGE).
What the evidence supports—and where uncertainty remains
Evidence exists, but it cannot predict a personal result
A professional position statement and a systematic review evaluate ESG.
This guide uses them to describe evidence limits and the need for a safety discussion. It does not use them to forecast an individual result or compare providers.
International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) evidence review and position statement; systematic review and meta-analysis.
Much of the included evidence is uncertain
The IFSO review describes most included evidence as observational and low certainty, with limited randomized evidence.
It cannot determine what result an individual should expect, whether ESG is preferable to medication or surgery for that person, or how one clinic compares with another.
Discuss safety before building a shortlist
The cited guidance and review discuss potential harms including pain, nausea or vomiting, bleeding, leak, infection and the possible need for further intervention. The sources support this overall risk summary but do not provide a separate exact passage for every item in the list. The chance and relevance of each harm depend on the patient, technique and treating service.
NICE procedure guidance; peer-reviewed safety synthesis.
Useful action: ask for the provider’s consent information, emergency arrangements, after-hours contact and individualized risk advice.
Compare the team responsible for care
Ask which specialist multidisciplinary service is responsible and what the offer includes.
Also ask how the team handles a changed plan or complication, particularly when treatment involves travel.
External programs and clinicians
This is an unranked research set. The institutional pages below are first-party descriptions of their own programs and clinicians. They are not independent outcome comparisons or endorsements, and they do not establish current international intake.
Christopher Thompson · Brigham and Women’s
The hospital names him Director of Therapeutic Endoscopy on its ESG program page.
Reem Z. Sharaiha · Weill Cornell
Her official profile lists bariatric endoscopy, endoscopic suturing and a special interest in endoscopic obesity treatment. It also links an ESG patient video.
Verify the current care plan
Ask whether a program currently considers cases like yours, which clinician performs the assessment, what criteria it uses and who provides long-term follow-up.
This is not a best-doctor ranking.
Bookimed-listed ESG doctors
These complementary, unranked doctor listings are separate from the external program research above. Bookimed has procedure-specific public pages for the doctors below, and official institution pages corroborate only the stated specialty or affiliation.
A doctor listing does not establish current ESG availability, candidacy, case acceptance, personal case volume, what an offer includes, price or outcome.
Browse Bookimed-listed ESG doctors
Bookimed listing · Azerbaijan
Farid Rafiyev
Bookimed lists ESG on his procedure page. Liv’s official profile corroborates his metabolic and bariatric surgery role in Baku.
Bookimed listing · Turkey
Yasar Tuna
Bookimed lists ESG on his procedure page. Medical Park’s official page corroborates his gastroenterology role in Antalya.
Bookimed listing · Turkey
Halil Alis
Bookimed lists ESG on his procedure page. Liv’s official profile corroborates his general and bariatric surgery specialty.
ESG assessment and offer-comparison checklist
You can use this checklist with Bookimed or directly with any provider. It is a request format, not a promise that every recipient will supply every answer.
Prepare for clinical assessment
- the clinical history, records and tests the reviewing team requests;
- your current treatment list and prior relevant procedures;
- your goals and the questions you need the specialist service to answer;
- the recipient and purpose before authorizing any record sharing.
Compare what each offer includes
- why ESG is proposed rather than a medical or surgical alternative;
- the named endoscopist and multidisciplinary team;
- anesthesia, facility, planned stay and diet progression;
- nutrition or behavioral support, remote reviews and follow-up;
- included tests, medications, complication care and exclusions;
- who handles an urgent problem after you return home.
Optional next step: understand Bookimed’s request process
You can use this guide and checklist without contacting Bookimed.
Bookimed’s public explanation says that submitting a request is followed by contact from Bookimed and presentation of treatment options. Read that explanation before deciding whether to submit a request.
See how the Bookimed request process works
No provider response, eligibility, case acceptance, particular clinician, availability, price, booking, medical consultation or outcome is promised. Confirm any information with the treating service, and confirm the intended recipient and purpose before authorizing medical-record sharing.
Sources, editorial approach and limitations
Editorial accountability: This guide was prepared by the Bookimed Editorial Team. Fahad Mawlood is a Medical Editor & Data Scientist at Bookimed. Last updated 20 Aug 2026. See the editorial policy and Medical Advisory Board.
Source approach: Clinical guidance and peer-reviewed reviews support the procedure description, care setting, evidence limits and general safety warning. Official institutional pages support only their own program, specialty or affiliation statements. Bookimed-listed doctors are labeled separately and are not ranked against external programs.
Limitations: This guide does not establish diagnosis, candidacy, a personal recommendation, provider ranking, comparative provider outcomes, a fixed price, current availability or a clinical result. Provider pages can change, and first-party statements should be reconfirmed directly.
How this guide was prepared
Prepared by: Bookimed Editorial Team — Medical content authors and editors.
Medical editor at Bookimed: Fahad Mawlood — Medical Editor & Data Scientist. See the linked profile for role details.
Last updated . See Bookimed’s editorial policy and Medical Advisory Board.