The advantages of minimally invasive surgery have been instrumental for this growth [4]. Many operations have been devised, with the Roux selleck chem en Y gastric bypass being the most effective as far as excess weight loss is concerned, and sleeve gastrectomy being preferred by a growing number of surgeons due to its simplicity, effectiveness, and low rate of complications. In 2006, a new technique was presented, initially named total vertical gastric plication, better known today as laparoscopic greater curvature plication (Evidence Level III) [5]. Developed in Iran by Dr Talebpour as a cheap alternative to Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy, it appears to be gaining ground as its theoretical advantages of technical simplicity and low complication rate are of major importance to the growing industry that Bariatric Surgery has become, as well as to the industry of Bariatric Tourism.

2. Aim Laparoscopic Greater Curvature Plication (LGCP) or Gastric Plication is a relatively new technique. Gastric Plication was initially proposed by Wilkinson and Peloso [6] in 1981 and introduced in 2006 by Dr Talebpour in Iran [5]. Operating in private hospitals throughout the country with scarce equipment, Dr Talebpour sought to develop a novel operation to mimic the well-established results of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy, without the need to use costly equipment such as endoscopic staplers which were hard to come by. What he came up with was the LGCP which he initially named Total Vertical Gastric Plication, initially tested in animal models (especially sheep) and subsequently applying it to his volunteer patients.

First results were published in 2006, and in 2007 a series of 100 consecutive patients were published, successfully placing LGCP on the map and adding it to the armament for the treatment of Morbid Obesity. There is currently AV-951 ongoing debate on the application of LGCP. The operation itself carries many potential advantages when compared to LSG, mainly due to the fact that there are no anastomotic lines and the risk of leak from a staple line is inherently inexistent. However, there are currently relatively few publications from authors performing the LGCP, resulting on very few data concerning the results as well as the complication rate of the LGCP, especially when compared to the LSG which has been extensively researched. This fact leads to distrust from the part of the international surgical community, and also led the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery to issue a statement in March 2011, containing the following recommendations [7]. Gastric plication procedures should be considered investigational at present.