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Intragastric Balloon Significantly Improves Metabolic Parameters at 6 Months: a Meta-Analysis

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Abstract

Introduction

It is estimated that by 2030, 38% of the world population will be overweight, and another 20% will be people with obesity. Intragastric balloons (IGBs) are an option in conjunction with lifestyle modification for the treatment of obesity. We sought to investigate the effects of IGB therapy on hemoglobin A1c (A1c), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides (TGs).

Methods

PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar were queried through November 2021 to identify studies that evaluated the effects of IGB therapy on selected variables at 6 months. A total of 17 studies and 1198 patients met inclusion criteria. Results were pooled using a random-effects model.

Results

At 6-month post-IGB insertion, patients had a significant reduction in A1c (mean difference (MD): − 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI): − 0.884 to − 0.355, p < 0.001), SBP (MD: − 8.39, 95% CI: − 11.39 to − 5.386, p < 0.001), DBP (MD: − 5.807, 95% CI: − 8.852 to − 2.76, p < 0.001), TC (MD: − 9.189, 95% CI: − 15.763 to − 2.616, p = 0.006), LDL (MD: − 5.20, 95% CI: − 9.05 to − 1.35, p = 0.008), and TGs (MD: − 25.35, 95% CI: − 40.30 to − 10.10, p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in HDL (MD: 1.245, 95% CI: − 0.11 to 2.60, p = 0.071).

Conclusions

Our meta-analysis suggests that IGB therapy is associated with improvements in insulin resistance, blood pressure, and dyslipidemia at 6 months. The results of this analysis suggest that IGB placement can be a viable treatment option to improve important metabolic parameters beyond weight loss alone.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Rahil H. Shah & Shyam Vedantam

  2. Division of Digestive Health and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Miami, 1120 NW 14Th Street, Room 1113, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Shria Kumar, Sunil Amin, Michelle Pearlman & Sean Bhalla

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Correspondence to Sean Bhalla.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

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Sunil Amin is a consultant for Boston Scientific and MicroTech. However, no grant or outside funding was used for this project. The other authors (RHS, SV, SK, MP, SB) declare no competing interests.

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Key Points

• IGB led to significant improvements in A1c, SBP, DBP, TC, LDL, and TG.

• IGB should be considered with lifestyle changes and pharmacotherapy for patients.

• Long-term data is limited preventing conclusive decisions on the effectiveness of IGB.

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Shah, R.H., Vedantam, S., Kumar, S. et al. Intragastric Balloon Significantly Improves Metabolic Parameters at 6 Months: a Meta-Analysis. OBES SURG 33, 725–732 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-022-06437-7

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