About Intragastric Balloon
The Intragastric Balloon as a treatment for obesity and morbid obesity has been
in place in the early 1980s in Europe, India, Mexico and the United States. The
balloon is placed endoscopically (via the mouth and esophagus), then inflated with
saline or water and hermetically sealed, reducing the patient's capacity to consume
food and fluid and providing the patient with a sensation of satiety.
Treatment of severe obesity through the temporary placement of an intragastric balloon
has been a weight-loss option for some patients since the 1980s. It was primarily
devised to help severely obese patients lose enough weight to become acceptable
candidates for additional weight-loss surgery and other treatments, and also came
to be seen as an attractive alternative to permanent excision of stomach tissue
and reconfiguration of the digestive tract that result with gastric sleeve and gastric
bypass surgeries.
After pharmaceutical device manufacturers addressed less-than-optimal results due
to poor balloon design in the late 1980s, use of this treatment increased worldwide,
particularly in Europe, Mexico, the U.S. and India. Still used in many cases as
a precursor to longer-term treatments such as gastric banding , sleeve or bypass
surgery, placement of an intragastric balloon into a patient's stomach is performed
endoscopically (through the mouth), after which the balloon is filled with a saline
solution and hermetically sealed.
Placement of the balloon leads to patients' feeling full even with the consumption
of small amounts of food and results in a decrease in appetite, which in turn leads
to fairly rapid weight loss.
The treatment is generally limited to six months, after which the balloon is removed
and the patient's condition is evaluated for further treatment. In some cases a
new balloon may be implanted to continue the treatment regimen, but six months is
the outer limit for the device's capacity to withstand stomach acids before eroding
and either deflating or causing bowel obstruction.
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