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- WHAT IS INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON?
- HOW IS THE BALLOON PLACED INTO THE STOMACH?
- WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON?
- HOW LONG THE BALLOON STAYS IN THE STOMACH?
- WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON?
- WHAT ARE THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON?
- WHAT TO EAT AFTER THE GASTRIC BALLOON IS INSTALLED
Stomach Balloon provides “Feeling of Toughness”. This helps you to lose weight fast with healthy eating
WHAT IS INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON?
The balloon system consists of a soft, expandable balloon, a placement tube and a filling system. Intragastric balloon is too big to pass into the gut and leads to a relatively long-term feeling of fullness with smaller food portions. In general, intragastric balloon placement significantly reduces portion sizes and helps you to achieve your long-term weight loss goals.
HOW IS THE BALLOON PLACED INTO THE STOMACH?
The balloon is endoscopically inserted into the stomach. The procedure takes about 20 to 25 minutes. First, a diagnostic endoscopy is performed to ensure that you do not have any medical condition that may prevent the placement of the balloon (such as an ulcer). If no abnormality is observed, a soft, deflated balloon made of silicone elastomer based material is placed into the stomach. Once the balloon is placed into your stomach, it is filled with a blue liquid via a filling tube (catheter) attached to the balloon and the procedure is completed. The balloon starts floating freely within the stomach.
The procedure is performed under sedation to ensure patient comfort and the patient is awakened immediately after the procedure and is discharged from the hospital after a 2- hour observation period in the ward.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON?
Intragastric balloon is an adjunctive method designed to help weight loss with diet. Overweight people with a body mass index higher than 25 kg/m², who have a prior history of failed attempts of losing weight with diet and exercises, who lost their motivation to diet or do not prefer surgical interventions are eligible for intragastric balloon placement. In addition, this procedure may be beneficial particularly for those who are considered to be too overweight to undergo major surgeries. The use of the balloon to lose weight before a major surgery may help reducing surgical risks associated with overweight.
HOW LONG THE BALLOON STAYS IN THE STOMACH?
Intragastric balloons are divided into two categories based on the targeted weight loss and the type of the balloon: balloons designed to stay 6 months and balloons designed to stay 12 months in the stomach. Gastric balloons for 6 months and gastric balloons for 12 months balloons differ from each other. Those for 12 months can be inflated with 3-month intervals to prevent the adaptation of the stomach to the balloon while those for 6 months are not adjustable.
If the balloon stays in the stomach longer than the planned time period, the risk for balloon rupture is increased. It is recommended to remove the balloon in due time. The procedure may be repeated in patients who have not lost enough weight.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON?
The gastric balloon placement is a minimally invasive, non-surgical and outpatient procedure and those are also the main advantages of the procedure.
Long-term weight loss may occur once the patient adopts healthy eating habits. Long-term weight loss may improve already existing health conditions such as obesity- associated diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea and promotes self-esteem and self-respect.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON?
Intragastric balloons are safely used worldwide in individuals with obesity or overweight. Complications are very rare and may be easily treated. Nausea, vomiting and cramps may occur during the first 2 or 3 days after the placement of the balloon. Certain medications are prescribed prior to hospital discharge to prevent such complications from occurring. Such symptoms disappear after the first 2 or 3 days.
The risk for a balloon rupture is not something like the term suggests. Actually the balloon does not rupture; however, the liquid inside the balloon may leak. The leak and deflation of the balloon may be easily detected by the blue color of the urine as the balloon is inflated with methylene blue. If you notice such color change, please contact your doctor immediately for the balloon to be checked endoscopically and removed if necessary.
WHAT TO EAT AFTER THE GASTRIC BALLOON IS INSTALLED
As the stomach will try to digest the balloon, cramps, nausea and vomiting may occur 1 or 2 hours after the installation of the gastric balloon and these symptoms may vary among patients in accordance with the individual’s pain threshold. These symptoms are normal and expected. A liquid diet including lactose-free milk/buttermilk, beef and chicken broths or fruit juices may be given at amounts permitted during the first 3 or 4 day, until the resolution of these symptoms. This period is followed by a pureed diet including soft food and meals prepared using a blender. Diets will be explained to the patients in details by a dietician at the time of hospital discharge.
The stomach become adapted to the balloon after the 10th day after the procedure and normal, solid food may be given; however, a regular diet is indispensable after the gastric balloon placement procedure. As meal portions become smaller, you will automatically adopt an eating model with frequent but smaller portions.
During this period of time, a diet with well- balanced amounts of carbohydrate, fat and protein is of crucial importance for a healthy and rapid weight losing process. Snacks should not be skipped to control portion size in main meals as well as to control blood sugar. Your compliance with the diet plan prepared for you by your dietician, learning how to eat healthy and get healthy eating habits can ensure weight loss with a gastric balloon. In addition, this is the way to keep you away from obesity for lifetime.
