Background: Intragastric balloon (IGB) use is indicated for patients whose BMI precludes the option of bariatric surgery or who need to lose weight prior to undergoing surgery. It is a minimally invasive procedure and currently there are two main models of IGBs in use, the non-adjustable intragastric balloon (NIB), implanted for six months, and the adjustable intragastric balloon (AIB), implanted for up to 12 months.
Objective: Analyze clinical characteristics between patients receiving non-adjustable gastric balloon and the adjustable (prolonged implantation) intragastric balloon.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 470 patients diagnosed as obese or overweight who had balloon implantation from October 2011 to July 2018. The associations between percentage excess weight loss versus clinical and demographic variables were calculated using the chi-squared test. Independent samples were submitted to the Student's t test to determine the quantitative variables, with a confidence interval of 95%. Calculation of excess weight was based on an estimated ideal weight that would correspond to a BMI of 24.99 kg/m2.
Results: A total of 414 patients completed the treatment achieving an average total body weight loss (%TBWL) of 15.4±7 with the NIB and 15.5±9.6 with the AIB. Overweight patients achieved higher excess weight loss (%EWL) values using AIBs (157.2±82.5) and obese patients did so with NIB use (56±29.7). Women achieved higher %EWL values (65.6±62.2) than men (48±27.1). Individuals who attended >4 consultations with a nutritionist (60.8%) achieved TBWL >18%. All of those P-values were <0.001.
Conclusion: Obese individuals and women registered the greatest weight losses. Overweight patients achieved greater losses using AIB and obese patients did so using NIBs. NIB use was associated with higher EWL percentages. Nutritional accompaniment had a positive impact on the %TBWL.