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Intragastric Balloon for Management of Severe Obesity: a Systematic Review

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Abstract

Older models of intragastric balloons (IGBs) had unacceptably high complication rates and inconsequential weight loss. With FDA approval of newer models, we aimed to systematically examine the literature regarding the efficacy of IGB therapy for obesity. A comprehensive electronic database search was completed. Title searching was restricted to the following keywords: bariatric, gastric, gastric bypass, gastric band, sleeve gastrectomy, and intragastric balloon. Twenty-six primary studies (n = 6101) were included. At balloon removal, mean change in weight and BMI were 15.7 ± 5.3 kg and 5.9 ± 1.0 kg/m2. The most common complications were nausea/vomiting (23.3 %) and abdominal pain (19.9 %). Serious complications were rare: mortality (0.05 %) and gastric perforation (0.1 %). IGBs are associated with marked short-term weight loss with limited serious complications.

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Correspondence to Noah Jacob Switzer.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Conflict of Interest

Ekua Yorke, Noah J. Switzer, Artan Reso, Xinhe Shi, Christopher de Gara, and Richdeep Gill declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Daniel Birch- consultant for Johnson & Johnson Ethicon Endosurgery and Covidien. He also has received educational grants from Covidien, Johnson & Johnson Ethicon Endosurgery and Stryker, and teaching honoraria from Cook Surgery and Bard Davol.

Shahzeer Karmali—consultant for Gore and Ethicon

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Yorke, E., Switzer, N.J., Reso, A. et al. Intragastric Balloon for Management of Severe Obesity: a Systematic Review. OBES SURG 26, 2248–2254 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-016-2307-9

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