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December 27, 2022What is a gastric balloon?
A gastric balloon is an inflatable silicone balloon that is inserted in your stomach. It works by making you feel full sooner so that you eat less.
Is a gastric balloon suitable for me?
If your BMI score is over 40 (morbid obesity), surgery may help you to achieve long-term weight loss. Surgery may also help if you have a BMI over 35 (severe obesity) and have other medical problems such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnoea (your breathing stops for 10 seconds or longer during sleep), breathing problems or heart disease.
A gastric balloon can only stay in place for up to 9 months. For this reason, a gastric balloon can be used to help you to lose weight to prepare for weight-loss surgery or for an operation that you have been refused until you lose enough weight to reduce the risk of serious complications.
What are the benefits of a gastric balloon?
You should get improved eating habits to help you to achieve long-term weight loss but this depends on your ability to keep to your new lifestyle.
If you need weight-loss surgery or another operation, having a gastric balloon should help prepare you.
Long-term weight loss should improve most obesity-related health problems you may have.
Are there any alternatives to a gastric balloon?
The simple approach to losing weight involves eating less, improving your diet and doing more exercise. Sometimes medication given by your GP can help.
There are surgical alternatives to a gastric balloon.
- Gastric banding
- Shortening your digestive tract
- Sleeve gastrectomy
- Gastric bypass
Is silicone safe?
Many studies have been carried out to find if silicone is safe. There is no evidence to suggest that people who have gastric balloons have a higher risk of developing diseases such as cancer and arthritis.
What does the procedure involve?
Inserting a gastric balloon usually takes 20 minutes to an hour.
Your doctor may offer you a sedative to help you to relax.
Your doctor will place a flexible telescope (endoscope) into the back of your throat. They may ask you to swallow when the endoscope is in your throat. This will help the endoscope to pass easily into your oesophagus (gullet) and down into your stomach.
Your doctor will be able to look for problems such as inflammation or ulcers. If they cannot see any problems, they will use the endoscope to pass the deflated balloon into your stomach. The balloon is attached to a soft tube and your doctor will use the tube to inflate the balloon with 650 to 750 millilitres of air or 400 to 700 millilitres of saline.