Waldrep WRAP

WRAP is a new stomach re-shaping procedure that may revolutionize weight loss surgery, without the need to open, cut, or remove part of the stomach, or leave a plastic device inside.

WRAP is an effective, more affordable outpatient minimally invasive technique that rapidly became the first choice for most of our patients.

WRAP (Weight Reduction Assistance Procedure) is a convenient term we use for the laparoscopic surgical technique of gastroplasty (gastro = stomach; plasty = change the shape of); this procedure has the goal of simply decreasing the amount of food the stomach will hold to create a “comfortably full” feeling. When you see or hear the word WRAP in our clinic, we are simply referring to a type of gastroplasty.

If effective, a person could eat less food to feel satisfied; less food means less calories, leading to a lower body weight and improved health. This technique should be used with an effort to decrease calories by taking an appropriate diet.

Many patients prefer the differences between this procedure and other available operations for weight loss:

The gastroplasty we refer to as WRAP…

• is an outpatient procedure
• does not open, staple, divide, or rearrange the intestinal tract
• does not cut away and discard healthy stomach
• does not leave an artificial device inside the body that requires needle-stick adjustments; or repairs, replacements, repositioning, or removal
• does not require an overnight hospital stay
• averages more than 40 % more weight loss than gastric band (comparison of % loss of excess body weight)* resolves or improves Diabetes in over 70 % of patients*
• resolves or improves High Blood Pressure in over 60 % of patients*
• (* = for patients of Dr. Waldrep; like any weight loss surgery, these results are not guaranteed and may change over time)

Having performed thousands of laparoscopic stomach and weight loss surgeries, Dr. Waldrep researched this technique for several years as part of a surgical device development project. Dr. Waldrep performed the first WRAP technique in August 2009, and has a leading experience in providing this relatively new technique.

There is no surgery formally named ”WRAP”; WRAP is simply a convenient term that patients can use in our clinic to easily refer to this technique because this and similar surgical techniques have been referred to by many different names, including:

• Gastric Plication Surgery (“GPS”)
• Gastric Imbrication
• Greater Curve Plication
• Total Gastric Folds
• Laparoscopic Total Gastric Vertical Plication
• Greater Curve Inversion Surgery

WRAP is more accessible to patients who are not able to utilize health insurance benefits to achieve weight wellness.