If you have already tried all the fad diets, slimming pills and workouts but the weight still piles on, your last resort could be surgery. According to reports, a new type of weight-loss procedure is now available.

WebMD reported that the new procedure offers an alternative to traditional bariatric surgery for people who are mildly to moderately obese.

The new procedure is called endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty. It involves using an endoscope - a flexible tube inserted through the mouth rather than making an incision in the body. When the endoscope reaches the stomach, the surgeon places sutures in the stomach to change its shape and make it smaller.

According to Dr. Barham Abu Dayyeh, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., they were able to go inside the stomach to its connection to the esophagus. From there, they created a banana-sized sleeve that serves as a mini-stomach.

"It delays the emptying of the stomach, and food sits in it for longer periods of time. Patients will be able to follow a low-calorie diet, fewer than 1,000 calories a day, without being hungry all the time," Dayyeh said.

"We're not cutting or removing any part of the stomach or digestive tract," the medical professional explained. "There's a low risk of having any nutrition deficiencies because you're leaving the gastrointestinal tract and stomach alone."

Per Health24, a small study, which is published in the journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, found out that the said procedure resulted in a weight loss of about 50 percent after six, nine and 12 months since the procedure was performed.

Dayyeh is hopeful with this new procedure despite its need for further research. He believes that this is "a whole paradigm shift," adding that this weight loss surgery is cheaper and less risky.

However, not everyone is impressed and convinced of the power of endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty. Dr. Subhash Kini, a weight-loss surgeon and associate professor at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City, remains skeptical with the new procedure.

Kini noted that surgeons had tried the same approach using incisions but it did not work well. He explained that the length of the new study was short. In fact, it did not take into account the fact that weight loss surgeries tend to fail after two years and beyond.

According to WebMD, two of the study authors disclosed a potential conflict of interest. Dayyeh is a consultant at the Apollo Endosurgery company, which provided partial funding for the study and has supported his research. Study co-author Dr. Christopher Gostout, on the other hand, is the company's chief medical officer and holds a stake in the said firm.