Purpose
Minimize chronic nausea and vomiting caused by gastroparesis or other unknown causes when the patient has not found relief from medication or other conservative treatments.
Device
A gastric pacemaker is placed in the torso and delivers electrical pulses to the nerves of the lower stomach to assist with increased stomach contraction to help with motility. The device is placed using minimally invasive technique, with patients typically discharges in five days or less. Depending on the number of pulse required to gain control of symptoms, the battery life of the gastric pacemaker ranges from five to ten years.
Benefits
The therapy can be reversed by either turning off or removing the device.
Cons
At the time of reversal, the device must be replaced.
Reference
Enterra™ Therapy (pdf)