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What is a 12-month Adjustable Stomach Balloon?
What is a Stomach Balloon and How Does It Provide Weight Loss?
Gastric Balloon (Stomach Ballon) is a silicone balloon placed in the stomach with the help of endoscopy, which is applied to individuals with obesity problems and to patients who are overweight but do not have an indication for obesity surgery, that is, who are not suitable for surgery. Patients who are suitable for gastric balloon are individuals with a body mass index between 26 and 35, however, people with a very high body mass index such as 50 or 60 can choose the gastric balloon procedure to reduce their weight a little until the planned bariatric surgery procedure and to make the surgery safer.
Finally, although suitable for bariatric surgery, those who refrain from surgery for various reasons may choose gastric balloon. Although the gastric balloon procedure is painless, stomach cramps may be observed for a few days after the gastric balloon is attached, some physicians prefer to hospitalize patients in the first night and give intravenous cramp-preventing drugs. Since the gastric balloon will basically occupy a volume of about 500-700 ml in the stomach, it allows early satiety by leaving less room for meals in the stomach and thus restricts calorie intake. The meal portions of the patients with a gastric balloon should be small, low in carbohydrates, rich in fiber and protein. Patients who consume large portions may experience nausea or even vomiting. Since the gastric balloon also creates tension in the stomach wall, the nerve called the vagus sends the signal to the brain that the stomach is full, which also provides a feeling of satiety.
A weight loss of 15-25% of total body weight is aimmed with gastric balloons. Gastric balloons can be of many types, all of them have different duration and properties in the stomach
How many types of stomach balloons are there and how are they applied?
Based on the substance they are inflated, gastric balloons are divided into two as air gastric balloon and gastric balloon with liquid. While air filled gastric balloons are more comfortable in terms of cramping and vomiting complaints, which can be seen especially in the first days, gastric balloons inflated with liquid are more successful in terms of weight loss efficiency in the long term. According to the duration of their stay in the stomach, gastric balloons are generally divided into 6-month and 12-month gastric balloons. As the gastric balloon stays in the stomach longer, it can be expected to lose more weight. As the inflation technique, there are gastric balloons inflated only once and gastric balloons that can be inflated multiple times. Recently, gastric balloons that do not require endoscopy and are placed in the stomach by swallowing have also been on the market. The procedure of inserting a gastric balloon generally takes 20 minutes, the gastric balloon procedure placed in the stomach by endoscopy is painless, but some people may experience cramping, nausea and even vomiting for a few days in the hours following the insertion process, these complaints can be controlled with medications, usually after the first week. However, a minority group may not tolerate these complaints and may choose to have the balloon removed at an early stage. Since deep sedation and anesthesia are generally applied for the gastric balloon insertion procedure, the patient does not feel pain and discomfort during the procedure. Gastroscopy (gastroscopy = gastric endoscopy) for the gastric balloon can also provide the opportunity to diagnose other diseases that may exist in the esophagus, stomach and small intestine.
What is a twelve-month adjustable stomach balloon?
A 12-month adjustable stomach balloon is a balloon that can stay in the stomach for as long as 12 months and then should be removed endoscopically. One of the biggest advantage of this non surgical weight loss technic is that we can adjust the volume inside the balloon when we need to, this provide a great confort to the partient and mostly avoids the early removal of the balloon. For example a six month stomach balloon may be filled just once and can not be volume-adjusted again. Thus when a bariatric surgeon places a 6 month balloon, the surgeon must fill it with the best possible volume that it enables maximum weight loss but causes minimum nausea and cramps which is not always so easy to achieve. With a 12 month adjustable stomach balloon it is easier. The bariatric surgeon places the balloon in the stomach and inflates it with a lower volume of fluid, this means that the patient will have lesser amount of nausea or cramps or even maybe not. After a while this 12 month adjustable balloon can be re-filled to its maximum volume capacity with a second endoscopical procedure. Also its volume can be reduced if needed especially in case of nausea and cramps, this prevents early removal of the balloon. As in all stomach balloon procedures, we advise one night hospital stay after 12-month stomach balloon procedure as well.