subject: Know More About Intragastric Balloon [print this page] These days chances of obesity have increasedThese days chances of obesity have increased. People of all age groups; suffer with it due to over eating, bad eating habits and more such situations. If the BMI (Body Mass Index) value increases more than 35, then it leads to morbid obesity and overweight. Due to this overweight, there is an increased risk of several health problems. There are some weight loss surgeries, to reduce the chances of overweight and other health issues. Intragastric surgery is the popular one which helps in weight loss. It is not much riskier than other weight loss surgeries like laparoscopic surgery, gastric bypass surgery, lip band surgery, open surgery, gastric sleeve surgery and more.
Intragastric balloon surgery is a non surgical method to reduce hunger to help you losing weight. You can eat less and lose weight with these surgeries and operations. It is a simple gastric surgery where a soft, expandable silicon balloon is inserted inside the stomach through the mouth. Once it is inserted into the stomach then the balloon is filled with sterile saline. It mainly performs short term and rapid weight loss. This non surgical method is done only to the overweight people. This gastric balloon works as it is filled in a large portion of the stomach and reduces the stomach capacity by creating a feeling of fullness and does not allow for over eating.
This procedure is conducted by gastroenterologist by inserting an endoscopic camera into the stomach. They check for the abnormalities in the stomach before proceeding further, if everything is normal then they insert the silicon balloon through the mouth, oesophagus and into the stomach and filled with sterile saline. This entire procedure takes 20-30 minutes and you need maximum one or two days to recover completely. This gastric balloon can be used for six months and not recommended for more than that time period. If you use it for more than six months than the acidic content of the stomach may weaken the balloon and cause collapse. If your weight does not reduce in these six months, then the physician insert another balloon.
While inserting the balloon, the surgeon places a methelyene blue (colored dye) inside the balloon to identify the early deflation of the balloon. So whenever the balloon materials get weaken or cause leakage it helps in changing the urine color. After six months, balloon is removed in the same way as it was inserted. It does not cause any digestive and absorption problems. It may cause some side effects like nausea and after placement patient might get vomiting for a few days. You can minimize all these problems by consulting your physician.
