Intragastric balloons in high-risk obese patients in a Brazilian center: initial experience

ABSTRACT Objective: to assess the short-term efficacy, tolerance and complications in high-risk morbidly obese patients treated with an intragastric balloon as a bridge for surgery. Methods: we conducted a post-hoc analysis study in a Brazilian teaching hospital from 2010 to 2014, with 23 adult patients with a BMI of 48kg/m2, who received a single intragastric air or liquid balloon. We defined efficacy as 10% excess weight loss, and complications, as adverse events consequent to the intragastric balloon diagnosed after the initial accommodative period. We expressed the anthropometric results as means ± standard deviation, comparing the groups with paired T / Student’s T tests, when appropriate, with p<0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: the balloons were effective in 91.3% of the patients, remained in situ for an average of 5.5 months and most of them (65.2%) were air-filled, with a mean excess weight loss of 23.7kg±9.7 (excess weight loss 21.7%±8.9) and mean BMI reduction of 8.3kg/m2±3.3. Complications (17.3%) included abdominal discomfort, balloon deflation and late intolerance, without severe cases. Most of the participants (82.7%) did not experience adverse effects. We removed the intragastric balloons in time, without intercurrences, and 52.2% of these patients underwent bariatric surgery within one month. Conclusion: in our center, intragastric balloons can be successfully used as an initial weight loss procedure, with good tolerance and acceptable complications rates