FAQ about gastric balloon

Monthly diet coaching

The balloon is an effective help for weight loss in combination with a diet and dietary modification program.

Monthly diet consultations and sometimes more regular if necessary. The weight you’ll lose will depend on your motivation and the quality of the diet behavorial follow up.

The ballon isn’t an appetite suppressant that allows to be in caloric restriction and lose as much weight as possible. It is an effective help to the rehabilitation of habits and eating behavior.

An important weight loss

The weight loss is between 10 and 25 kg during the 6 months after the procedure.

Continued weight loss and absence of regain will depend on how you adopt the long-term lifestyle changes with eating and exercise.

It is therefore imperative to continue to be followed on the diet plan after the removal of the balloon. Follow-up is continued after removal of the balloon to continue to lose weight or stabilize and avoid weight gain.

A modified body image

Your body image will be modified and positive after the weight loss.

Your eating behavior will have changed.

A nutritional follow up will allow you to keep losing weight and not regaining after removal of the balloon.

It will help you pursuing your effort to keep your new eating behavior. You will then avoid weight regain.

Contra-indications exists with balloon placement:

• Pregnancy: oral contraception or a coil is mandatory during the balloon placement.
• Hiatus hernia of height more than 3 cm.
• Clotting trouble ,clotting treatment.
• Long-term use of anti-inflammatories or aspirin.
• Psychiatric troubles, addictions (drug addiction, alcoolism). A psychiatric consultation is sometimes necessary before confirmation of the balloon placment.
• Esophageal and stomach surgery, in particular obesity surgery.
• Insufficient motivation to be coached to change your eating behavior and resume a physical activity is a factor of failure.

Assessment by the multidisciplinary team is essential before undergoing the balloon placement.

Abdominal pain and vomiting can sometimes occur. An hospitalization and in 1 to 3% of case, a premature removal of the balloon is possible.

A gastric reflux can persist despite of the treatment (0,5 % à 1,8 %). A gastritis (inflammation of the stomach) is possible.

A spontaneous deflate of the balloon can occur especially if the length time of the balloon (6 months to 1 year) isn’t respected. If so a risk of intestinal occlusion can occur, especially if the patient has a background of abdominal surgery.

Severe complications are more rare (0,1 to 0,2 %) like pancreatitis or gastric perforation with a higher risk with oesogastroduodenal surgery background.

Oesophageal rupture within the pose or removal of the balloon is extremely rare.

Mortality rate is about 0,06 to 0,1 %, mostly caused by gastric’s perforation complications.

1. Placing of the intragastric balloon

   • Balloons with a lifespend of 6 monts to 1 year

     The gastroenterologist first realizes a gastric endoscopy under anesthesia with a flexible tube equipped with a camera to see inside your stomach.

     If there aren’t any local contra-indications, during the fibroscopy, he sets up the gastric balloon inside the stomach.

     The gastric balloon is made of silicone elastomer or polyurethane. It is flexible and malleable. It is introduced by the mouth and drove down in the esophagus while it isn’t inflated, to ease pathing through the throat.

     When the balloon is in the stomach, it is filled with a blue sterile saline solution or air (Heliosphere®), with the catheter fixed to the balloon.

     When the balloon is inflated, the doctor pulls slowly the intern extremity of the catheter to release the balloon in the stomach.

     The balloon is equipped with an auto closing caps, which prevent any leak of liquid or air. The balloon is free floating in the stomach.

     This part last for about 20 minutes. You will be monitored at the clinic for a few hours.

     You can also be hospitalized for their first night or go home with someone at the time indicated by the anesthetist.

   • Balloons with a lifespend of 4 months

     The gastric balloon is made of silicone elastomer. It is ingested as a pill under radioagraphic control, without anesthesia or fibroscopy. It is inadvisable in case of history of more then 2 cesareans, surgical intervention other then the following procedures performed more than a year before the balloon placement : appendectomy, cholecystectomy, laparoscopy.

     The balloon is filled with 500 cc of sterile saline solution.

     The balloon deflates itself after 4 months and is flushed out by the digestive tube without any procedure.

     The stomach is not check-up before the procedure

2. Following days

   During the few days following the balloon placement, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and acid reflux are common.

   Your gastroenterologist will prescribe you the day of the procedure a treatment to reduce those side effects.

An excellent starter

The gastric balloon is an excellent starter to lose weight.

It will slow down the digestion in the stomach, which allows you to have a feeling of gastric fullness and satiety. It allows you to reduce your daily food intake.

It allows an average weight loss of 8 kg in 4 months,15 kg in 6 months (for more information, please see publications) and 20 kg in one year if added with an efficient coaching.

The weight loss will maintain 18 months after removal of the balloon if the coaching is followed after removal of the balloon.