The intra-gastric balloon occupies a volume of the stomach causing a feeling of satiety and a reduction in food intake. The treatment must be combined with dietary and behavioural management.
Non chirurgical : Insertion by an endoscopic procedure
• Characteristics : Non-sterile, single use only, biocompatible, radio-opaque filled with air and water
• Expected weight loss : The expected weight loss at 6 months is in the order of 34% of the excess weight.
• Duration of treatment : 6 months maximum
• Average duration of the operation :
➢ Insertion 25 minutes (under general anaesthetic with or without intubation)
➢ Extraction 25 minutes (under general anaesthetic with intubation)
Contraindications :
The presence of one of the following conditions contraindicates the insertion of a balloon :
➢ history of gastric surgery
➢ digestive pathology: large hiatus hernias (> 5 cm), active peptic ulcers, severe oesophagitis of Grade III or IV (Savary-Miller classification) or Grade C or D (Los Angeles classification), Crohn’s disease or any other digestive tract lesion which could bleed, pyloric stenosis and abnormalities of the structure of the digestive tract
➢ diseases that are life-threatening short-term and medium-term
➢ severe cognitive or mental disorders
➢ severe, non-stabilised eating disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction
➢ treatment with anti-platelet drugs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories in the absence of treatment with anti-secretory drugs
➢ anticoagulants
➢ foreseeable inability of the patient to participate in a prolonged medical follow-up
➢ absence of previously identified medical treatment
➢ pregnancy, desire to be pregnant during treatment with the balloon
➢ severe liver disease
➢ haemostasis disorder
Principal complications :
Complications are generally moderate :
➢ abdominal pain, nausea, frequent vomiting in the early days that could
lead to hypokalaemia
➢ déhydratation
➢ spontaneous deflation of the balloon
➢ oesophageal reflux
➢ gastric ulcer
➢ oesophagitis
Severe complications are rare : Gastric perforation (0.1% to 0.2%)
➢ migration of the balloon leading to intestinal obstruction (0.2% to 0.8%)
➢ incarceration or oesophageal rupture during extraction
Restriction of activity : It is strictly forbidden for the patient to go scuba diving or fly in an unpressurised aircraft. Practising combat or extreme sports is also not recommended.
