Introduction: Overweight and obesity are ranked in the fifth place among the risk factors responsible for the greatest number of deaths in the world.
Aim: To assess the effects of treatment of patients with morbid obesity using endoscopic intragastric balloon (IGB) implantation.
Material and methods: Two hundred and seventy-two patients with obesity were treated using endoscopic intragastric balloon implantation. Upon analysis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the study covered a group of 63 patients with morbid obesity. The patients were implanted with the LexBal balloon. Reduction of excess body mass, changes to BMI values and ailments and complications divided into mild and severe were assessed.
Results: Before intragastric balloon treatment, the average body mass index (BMI) value was 58.3 ±10.5 kg/m2, whereas after 6 months of treatment it decreased to 49.5 ±8.7 kg/m2. The patients with postoperative BMI equal to or greater than 50.0 kg/m2 reported nausea (69.7%), vomiting (51.5%), flatulence (45.5%), upper abdominal pain (36.4%) and general discomfort (424%) more frequently. Dehydration (9.1%) was also more frequent in this group, whereas frequency of occurrence of such ailments and complications as heartburn (23.3%) and oesophageal candidiasis (10.0%) was higher in the patients with postoperative BMI below 50.0 kg/m2.
Conclusions: Endoscopic intragastric balloon implantation is an effective and safe method of excess body mass reduction in patients with morbid obesity before a planned bariatric surgical procedure. Pre-operative excess body mass and BMI value and post-operative excess weight loss in patients with morbid obesity have no impact on frequency of occurrence of ailments and complications in IGB treatment.
Keywords: endoscopy; intragastric balloon; morbid obesity.