You may have heard of the ingestible balloon, pill balloon, ellipse balloon, pill balloon or allurion balloon. Well, we explain what this technique consists of to treat overweight. Its advantages, disadvantages, similarities and differences in relation to the intragastric balloon so that you can assess both options.
What is the Elipse Ingestible Balloon?
The ingestible balloon It is an implant designed for direct ingestion by the patient, which is why it is also called a balloon. In this way, the gastric balloon in pill It is ingested through a capsule that the patient swallows by himself and once in the stomach it is filled with a sterile liquid until it reaches a volume of 550-600cc. The placement process is carried out under the supervision of the medical team, but without requiring an endoscopy.
When talking about this technique what stands out the most or what people stay with the most is the fact that it is a capsule ingestible balloon that can be swallowed with a pill and cleared spontaneously. From our vision as professionals in the treatment of overweight and obesity the conventional intragastric balloon Provides greater safety and efficacy than ingestible balloon for the following reasons:
– Duration of ingestible balloon treatment
The treatment of ingestible balloon it lasts 4 months while that of the intragastric balloon lasts 6 or 12 months. The difference of 2 months with the balloon in place means that the patient and the medical team have a little more time to consolidate the dietary and lifestyle changes necessary to maintain weight loss. In addition, although it will depend on each slimming clinicin general terms, usually the medical follow-up with the Ingestible Ball is six months while with the Gastric balloon it is usually one year.
– Ingestion of the Ingestible Balloon VS Gastric Balloon Endoscopy
With the ingestible balloonthe patient, with the help of a glass of water, swallows the Gastric balloon in tablet or pill (capsule-catheter). Once ingested, a fluoroscopy is carried out to verify the correct placement of the device and it is swollen until reaching the appropriate volume.
For the procedure with intragastric balloon A review endoscopy is performed with the aim of assessing the anatomical normality of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine. This evaluation allows the detection of any pathology that could contraindicate the placement of the gastric balloon, which implies greater safety and guarantees that the procedure will be carried out without risks associated with the insertion of the balloon.
– Control of the withdrawal of both balls
The pill ball it is “ingested” and eliminated spontaneously, while the intragastric balloon is removed under strict control to avoid possible risks and complications related to balloon deflation. Thus, through an endoscopic procedure, the intragastric balloon is removed and the medical team supervises and guarantees that there is no rest of it in the body.
