Althouse: "To begin Aspiration Therapy, a specially designed tube, known as the A-Tube™, is placed in the stomach."

January 14, 2013

"To begin Aspiration Therapy, a specially designed tube, known as the A-Tube™, is placed in the stomach."

"The A-Tube is a thin silicone rubber tube that connects the inside of the stomach directly to a discreet, poker-chip sized Skin-Port on the outside of the abdomen. The Skin-Port has a valve that can be opened or closed to control the flow of stomach contents. The patient empties a portion of stomach contents into the toilet after each meal through this tube by connecting a small, handheld device to the Skin-Port. The emptying process is called 'aspiration.'"

If bulimia is somehow wrong, how can this be a legitimate medical treatment?

Via Metafilter, where somebody penned the slogan: "When one anus isn't enough."

37 comments:

Nonapod said...: Well that sounds delightful. It's amazing the bizarre extremes we'll go to simply to avoid having to eat less.; 1/14/13, 1:58 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: The "A-Tube?" What an unfortunate moniker for such a device.; 1/14/13, 2:00 PM
Strelnikov said...: "Poker chip sized"? That's "discrete"?

On the other hand, she'll be able to get rid of that un-chewed bratwurst easily.

I say "she" intentionally.; 1/14/13, 2:02 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: "So what's going on? You ever get freaky with that thing?"

-- Glen Quagmire; 1/14/13, 2:08 PM
chickelit said...: No doubt somebody will fetishize this device.; 1/14/13, 2:09 PM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: If bulimia is somehow wrong, . . .

A psychotherapist once told me that the proper treatment for bulimia is to brush your teeth.; 1/14/13, 2:14 PM
Moose said...: why is this any different than gender reassignment surgery?; 1/14/13, 2:16 PM
Anthony said...: Physiologically, bulimia is bad because the constant passage of stomach acid eats away at the soft tissues on the way up and out. Whether a psychological impact may also be in play is anyone's guess.; 1/14/13, 2:17 PM
SJ said...: @Strelnikov,

"Poker chip sized"? That's "discrete"?

A poker chip is continuous, not discrete, in size*. But when used for betting in poker, the betting is usually discrete, though rarely discreet**.

The level of discretion is still unknown. The phrase "poker-chip size" is describing a device inserted in a hole in the abdomen. Under clothes which cover the torso, this is likely discreet. But with clothing which displays that portion of the abdomen, it is not discreet.

[*] Poker chips are, to the human eye, all approximately the same size. At least, all the values of chips from one set of chips will be a similar diameter.
If measured with a micrometer, the size will vary slightly, probably +/-0.1mm. The variance will not be along discrete steps, but will be along a continuous range.

[**]See also here, if you wish to understand the difference between "discreet" and "discrete" better.; 1/14/13, 2:20 PM
Michael K said...: Bariatrics is where the money is because no surgeon will want to be part of Obamacare. After I retired, I was astounded how the exhibits at the American College of Surgeons quickly became bariatric surgery exhibits. Those meetings used to have large exhibits on new methods and new treatments for cancer and ulcers and the gamut of diagnoses. Now they are 80% bariatrics.

This is just one more way to get away from disease and concentrate on cosmetic surgery. People will pay for this stuff and complain loudly treatment of the serious diseases. I did bariatric surgery in the early days but the complications got to be such a problem that the insurance companies got really squirrely about who was doing it. This will have more than its share of complications. I have a long list of failed obesity cures.; 1/14/13, 2:22 PM
Wince said...: "All You Can Eat Shrimp Nights" at Red Lobster... here I come!; 1/14/13, 2:24 PM
edutcher said...: This isn't for thin freaks.

This is for those people who have rendered the equipment they were born with unsuitable for its intended purpose by using it for, um..., something else.

The Blonde has a wealth of horror stories.; 1/14/13, 2:27 PM
test said...: The A-Tube is a thin silicone rubber tube that connects the inside of the stomach directly to a discreet, poker-chip sized Skin-Port on the outside of the abdomen

That sounds romantic.; 1/14/13, 2:28 PM
Charlie Currie said...: Stupid is as stupid does...and this is high priced stupid.

Cheers; 1/14/13, 2:32 PM
DADvocate said...: We all know that the A-Tube goes into the A-Hole and that doctors and nurses will refer to it as such.; 1/14/13, 2:33 PM
Scott said...: Ah. Now I understand why the Nobel Peace Prize committee called Obama's prize "aspirational."; 1/14/13, 2:38 PM
Carol said...: people who have rendered the equipment they were born with unsuitable for its intended purpose by using it for, um..., something else.

May have started that way, but why let this new technology go to waste?

Heh.; 1/14/13, 2:39 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: If bulimia is somehow wrong...

Not as bad as watching Al Rocker zig zag the red carpet.; 1/14/13, 2:49 PM
KCFleming said...: "The soldier in white was encased from head to toe in plaster and gauze.

Sewn into the bandages over the insides of both elbows were zippered lips through which he was fed clear fluid from a clear jar. A silent zinc pipe rose from the cement on his groin and was coupled to a slim rubber hose that carried waste from his kidneys and dripped it efficiently into a clear, stoppered jar on the floor. When the jar on the floor was full, the jar feeding his elbow was empty, and the two were simply switched quickly so that stuff could drip back into him."

Catch 22, Joseph Heller.; 1/14/13, 2:56 PM
Levi Starks said...: All you can eat disclaimer:

*A-tube stomachs not eligible for this offer.; 1/14/13, 2:57 PM
TMink said...: Or they could eat a lot but avoid carbohydrates. How can this procedure be ethical when something so simple as passing on the bread and pasta will achieve better results?

Trey; 1/14/13, 2:57 PM
gerry said...: Heavens. What ever happened to good, old-fashioned vomitorium technology?; 1/14/13, 3:23 PM
KCFleming said...: "What ever happened to good, old-fashioned vomitorium technology?"

Vomiting is free, and a 'disease'.

This is paid for, and a treatment.; 1/14/13, 3:33 PM
Bryan C said...: "If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can install... the A-Tube."

(Cue exploding jeeps, gunfire, gloopy streams of partially digested food.); 1/14/13, 4:03 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/14/13, 4:09 PM
Known Unknown said...: "I love it when a diet plan comes together."; 1/14/13, 4:11 PM
Anonymous said...: OMG, it's a peg tube attached to a vacuum pump. I don't see how this device will help with long term dietary issues and obesity. Anybody can have the behavior modification therapies without this radical approach.

The real issue isn't the overeating, its the WHY people engage in overating. It's a combination physiological/psychological issue, one that isn't totally understood even yet after years of research, but research has shown obesity to be far more complicated than simply being weak or a glutton.; 1/14/13, 4:13 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Vision of the future:
Lance Armstrong, banned for life from every other sport, but driven by his relentless competitive nature, becomes the seven time world pie-eating champion only to be caught using an A Tube.
He goes on Oprah to confess and beg the forgiveness of his fans.; 1/14/13, 4:18 PM
Anonymous said...: So technically a person could leave the valve wide open while participating in the national hotdog eating contest. Imagine that!; 1/14/13, 4:38 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Anybody can have the behavior modification therapies without this radical approach.

I'm detecting a dark vein of intolerance in your tone Inga.

Shame on you.; 1/14/13, 5:38 PM
Methadras said...: It's just purposeful dumping.; 1/14/13, 5:51 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: If you put a tube in your stomach... you could be violating a number of conceal carry, immigration, intent to distribute... not to mention the jobs lost to road side assistance do to your new motto - "it's just how I roll".; 1/14/13, 5:52 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I mean... will they let you board the plane with that alien thing inside you?

Surely.; 1/14/13, 6:01 PM
insurance said...: If you think Billy`s story is good..., last pay check my aunt's step son also made $7634 putting in an eleven hour week from home and their co-worker's sister`s neighbour has done this for 4 months and earnt more than $7634 parttime from a laptop. apply the guide available here.... CLICK HERE; 1/14/13, 6:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Lem, I'm sure people with gastric tubes are allowed on airplanes. Those tubes have been around for quite a few years, but are used for feeding, not dumping.

People with implants of all sorts are allowed to fly, also fake joints, go figure.

No intolerance to obese people Lem, just intolerance to therapies that don't work, while ignoring ones that do.; 1/14/13, 7:16 PM
Aaron said...: @SJ, I think poker chips would be discrete and not continuous.

Can you win 1.63 chips?

No.

Thus they are discrete.; 1/14/13, 7:39 PM
Anonymous said...: I don't know, what if they made a smaller, sieved version: a discreet fart vent?; 1/14/13, 8:31 PM