Intragastric Balloon
Intragastric balloon placement is a weight-loss procedure that involves placing a saline-filled silicone balloon in your stomach. This helps you lose weight by limiting how much you can eat and making you feel full faster. Placing an intragastric balloon is a temporary procedure that does not require surgery.
The intragastric balloon procedure may be an option if you have concerns about your weight, and diet and exercise haven’t worked for you.
Like other weight-loss procedures, an intragastric balloon requires commitment to a healthier lifestyle. You need to make permanent healthy changes to your diet and get regular exercise to help ensure the long-term success of the procedure.
The placement of an intragastric balloon helps you lose weight. Weight loss can lower your risk of potentially serious weight-related health problems, such as:
- Certain cancers, including breast, endometrial and prostate cancer.
- Heart disease and stroke.
- High blood pressure.
- High cholesterol levels.
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
- Sleep apnea.
- Type 2 diabetes.
Intragastric balloon placement and other weight-loss procedures or surgeries are typically done only after you’ve tried to lose weight by improving your diet and exercise habits.
An intragastric balloon may be an option for you if:
- Your body mass index (BMI) is between 30 and 40.
- You’re willing to commit to healthy lifestyle changes, get regular medical follow-up and participate in behavioral therapy.
- You have not had any previous stomach or esophageal surgery.
Intragastric balloons aren’t the right choice for everyone who is overweight. A screening process will help your doctor see if the procedure might be beneficial for you.
The cost for placing and removing the intragastric balloon may not be covered by health insurance. If it’s not covered, it would be an out-of-pocket expense.
Pain and nausea affect about one-third of people soon after insertion of an intragastric balloon. However, these symptoms usually only last for a few days after balloon placement.
Although rare, serious side effects may occur after intragastric balloon placement. Call your doctor immediately if nausea, vomiting and belly pain occur any time after surgery.
A potential risk includes balloon deflation. If the balloon deflates, there’s also a risk that it could move through your digestive system. This can cause a blockage that may require another procedure or surgery to remove the device.
Other possible risks include overinflation, acute pancreatitis, ulcers or a hole in the stomach wall, called a perforation. A perforation might require surgery to fix.
The final weight loss may not be as large as with gastric bypass. This may be enough for many people. Talk with your surgeon about which procedure is best for you.
The weight will usually come off more slowly than with gastric bypass. You should keep losing weight for up to 2 to 3 years.
Losing enough weight after surgery can improve many medical conditions you might also have. Conditions that may improve are asthma, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnea, high cholesterol, and gastroesophageal disease (GERD).
Weighing less should also make it much easier for you to move around and do your everyday activities.
This surgery alone is not a solution to losing weight. It can train you to eat less, but you still have to do much of the work. To lose weight and avoid complications from the procedure, you will need to follow the exercise and eating guidelines that your surgeon and dietitian give you.
The intragastric balloon procedure is done in the endoscopy unit as an outpatient procedure. You’ll be sedated for the procedure.
During the procedure, a thin tube called a catheter is moved down your throat and into your stomach. The intragastric balloon is inside the catheter. Next, the doctor advances an endoscope — a flexible tube with a camera attached — down your throat and into your stomach. The camera allows your doctor to see while filling the balloon with saline.
The procedure takes about a half-hour. You can usually go home 1 to 2 hours after the procedure is finished.
You can have small amounts of clear liquids starting about six hours after the procedure. The liquid diet generally continues until the start of the second week, when you can start eating soft foods. You’ll probably be able to start eating regular food around three weeks after the insertion of the intragastric balloon.
Intragastric balloons are left in place for up to six months and are then removed using an endoscope. At that time, a new balloon may be placed, or not, depending on the plan determined by you and your doctor.
You’ll also meet with members of your medical team, such as your nutritionist and psychologist, frequently after your procedure.
An intragastric balloon can make you feel full faster than you normally would when eating, which often means you’ll eat less. One reason why may be that the intragastric balloon slows down the time it takes to empty the stomach. Another reason may be that the balloon seems to change levels of hormones that control appetite.
The amount of weight you lose also depends on how much you can change your lifestyle habits, including diet and exercise.
Based on a summary of currently available treatments, loss of about 12% to 40% of body weight is typical during the six months after intragastric balloon placement.
As with other procedures and surgeries that lead to significant weight loss, the intragastric balloon may help improve or resolve conditions often related to being overweight, including:
- Heart disease.
- High blood pressure.
- High cholesterol levels.
- Sleep apnea.
- Type 2 diabetes.
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
- Joint pain caused by osteoarthritis.
- Skin conditions, including psoriasis and acanthosis nigricans, a skin condition that causes a dark discoloration in body folds and creases.
References
- Obesity, surgical management. Clinical overview. Elsevier; 2022. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed July June 24, 2023.
- Feldman M, et al., eds. Surgical and endoscopic treatment of obesity. In: Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Management. 11th ed. Elsevier; 2021. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed June 24, 2023.
- Silva LB, et al. Intragastric balloon. Minimally Invasive Therapy and Allied Technologies. 2022; doi:10.1080/13645706.2021.1874420.
- Shetye B, et al. Bariatric surgery, gastrointestinal hormones, and the microbiome: An Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) Clinical Practice Statement (CPS) 2022. Obesity Pillars. 2022; doi:10.1016/j.obpill.2022.100015.
- Types of weight-loss surgery. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/bariatric-surgery/types. Accessed June 21, 2023.
- Bariatric surgery. Endocrine Society. https://www.endocrine.org/patient-engagement/endocrine-library/bariatric-surgery. Accessed June 21, 2023.
- Ami TR. Allscripts EPSi. Mayo Clinic. June 13, 2023.
- Bariatric surgery procedures. American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. https://asmbs.org/patients/bariatric-surgery-procedures. Accessed June 21, 2023.
- Medical review (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. July 25, 2023.
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