TUESDAY, April 28, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Duodenal mucosal resurfacing (DMR), an investigational endoscopic procedure, may offer a safe, effective, and lasting way to maintain drug-free weight loss following glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist discontinuation, according to a study presented at Digestive Disease Week 2026, held from May 2 to 5 in Chicago.
Shelby Sullivan, M.D., from the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, New Hampshire, and colleagues report the first randomized, sham-controlled safety and efficacy outcomes from the REMAIN-1 Midpoint cohort. The analysis included 45 adults with obesity who achieved ≥15 percent total body weight loss (TBWL) with tirzepatide and were randomly assigned to resurfacing (29 people) or a sham procedure (16 people) at least one week after tirzepatide withdrawal, with six-month follow-up data.
The researchers found no device- or procedure-related serious adverse events were reported. At three months, DMR led to an additional weight loss of 2.1 kg, whereas the sham arm participants experienced an 8.2-kg regain (treatment difference, 10.3 kg). This yielded a 2.5 percent TBWL in the DMR arm versus a 10.0 percent regain in the sham arm (treatment difference, 12.5 percent). At six months, those in the sham group regained 40 percent more weight than the treatment group, with the difference between the treatment and control groups widening from one to six months postintervention, suggesting the potential for durable weight maintenance.
"Finding a treatment that allows patients to stop these medications without weight regain or loss of metabolic benefit is a huge unmet need," Sullivan said in a statement. "These findings indicate that this minimally invasive procedure may provide lasting weight-loss maintenance."
