Late gastric perforation after insertion of intragastric balloon for weight loss—video case report and literature review

Abstract

The BioEnterics intragastric balloon (BIB) is used in the treatment of morbid obesity, as a method for short-term weight loss, especially before definitive surgery. Previous studies have demonstrated that patients who have a BIB inserted can achieve ≤48% reduction of their excess weight, although this is not maintained in the long term [ 1 Doldi S.B. Micheletto G. Perrini M.N. Librenti M.C. Rella S. Treatment of morbid obesity with intragastric balloon in association with diet. Obes Surg. 2002; 12: 583-587 Crossref PubMed Scopus (97) Google Scholar , 2 Melissas J. Mouzas J. Filis D. et al. The intragastric balloon—smoothing the path to bariatric surgery. Obes Surg. 2006; 16: 897-902 Crossref PubMed Scopus (84) Google Scholar , 3 Göttig S. Weiner R.A. Daskalakis M. Preoperative weight reduction using the intragastric balloon. Obes Facts. 2009; 2: S20-S23 Crossref PubMed Scopus (18) Google Scholar , 4 Lopez-Nava G. Rubio M.A. Prados S. et al. BioEnterics® intragastric balloon (BIB®): single ambulatory center Spanish experience with 714 consecutive patients treated with one or two consecutive balloons. Obes Surg. 2011; 21: 5-9 Crossref PubMed Scopus (82) Google Scholar , 5 Stimac D. Majanović S.K. Turk T. Kezele B. Licul V. Orlić Z.C. Intragastric balloon treatment for obesity: results of a large single center prospective study. Obes Surg. 2011; 21: 551-555 Crossref PubMed Scopus (34) Google Scholar ]. The BIB is recommended to stay in place for 6 months and either removed or replaced after that period, because the risk of spontaneous rupture owing to material degradation increases.