Research developed at pointed out that up to two thirds of the patients who used the intragastric balloon (BIG) for weight loss showed a regain of up to 20% of the weight lost after its removal. The study, carried out with 224 patients between September 2015 and May 2016, was developed by the endoscopist and surgeon Bruno Queiroz Sander, and defended as a master’s thesis at the Graduate Program in Applied Sciences to Adult Health at the Faculty.
The doctor, director of Hospital Sander Medical Center, where the research was carried out, points out that one of the reasons for investigating this topic was the perception that there was no study that evaluated the weight regain of patients in the long term, after the withdrawal of the balloon. “There are several studies on the efficiency of the intragastric balloon for weight loss, but we wanted to know what happened afterwards, how the patient tends to maintain or not the weight lost after the treatment”, he explains.
Bruno Sander says that it was possible to determine what is the real weight regain of the patients who used the intragastric balloon, which is unprecedented. “In addition, we systematized and showed the factors that favor regain, highlighting the importance of the participation of a multidisciplinary team”, he says.
Intragastric balloon
Bruno explains that the intragastric balloon is an endoscopic procedure for weight loss indicated for patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 27 and, therefore, advisable for both obese and overweight people. In it, a silicone sphere in the shape of a balloon is placed in the patient’s stomach for up to six months, reducing appetite.
According to the doctor, it is a simple and quick procedure that lasts about 20 minutes and does not require hospitalization. “The procedure is safe, performed with the same sedation required for an endoscopy. In this series studied, we had no reports of complications, not even the intercurrence of a patient needing to be hospitalized, or anything like that, ”he says.
The doctor explains that the main criticisms of the procedure are related to weight regain after balloon removal, despite the effectiveness of the method for weight loss. For him, the research made it possible to demonstrate that this regain, in absolute numbers, is low. “We can see that the vast majority of patients manage to maintain 80% of the weight lost, and this is a very positive result”, evaluates Bruno Sander.
