Your weight plays a significant role in your overall health and longevity. Carrying too much weight around can put you at increased risk for chronic disease and mobility issues. For some, a balanced diet and daily exercise aren’t enough to achieve a healthier body mass index (BMI).
At Gastro Center of Maryland, we offer the gastric balloon procedure, a nonsurgical treatment that supports safe and consistent weight loss.
Our team of board-certified gastroenterologists complete comprehensive health evaluations to determine if you’re a candidate for a gastric balloon. They also provide the highest quality of care before, during, and after your procedure.
A gastric balloon procedure involves the placement of two balloons into your stomach by way of an endoscope.
Once filled with a saline solution, the balloons expand within your stomach, signaling to your body a sense of fullness, which minimizes how much you eat.
The space the balloons take up also helps you feel fuller faster during meals, so you consume fewer calories.
A gastric balloon is temporary. Once you achieve your weight loss goal, our providers remove the balloons during a follow-up endoscopic procedure.
You might be a candidate for gastric balloon if you have a BMI between 30 and 40 and are at increased risk for obesity-related conditions like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), and heart disease.
Our experienced physicians may also consider you a candidate for gastric balloon if you’re not interested in surgery, have not had a previous stomach or esophageal surgery, and don’t need to lose a large volume of weight to improve your health.
Additionally, you must be committed to making lasting changes to your lifestyle and diet that support a healthy weight to be considered for a gastric balloon procedure.
Gastro Center of Maryland offers endoscopic gastric balloon procedures on an outpatient basis, so you can expect to go home soon after treatment.
Our providers start by inserting a thin tube (catheter) down into your throat and guide it into your stomach. The deflated balloons sit inside the catheter.
Your physician sends a second tube with an attached camera (endoscope) into your stomach. The camera provides real-time images of the treatment area. This helps our team accurately fill the balloons with saline, which expands them to the size of grapefruits.
Once your procedure is complete, our team removes the catheters, and you can expect to spend some time in recovery. We provide complete aftercare instructions, including the diet restrictions to follow to jumpstart your weight loss.
Typically, individuals can expect to lose between 12% and 40% of their body weight in the initial six months of balloon placement.
However, your results depend on the lifestyle and diet changes you incorporate into your daily routine.
Our specialists continue to monitor your progress and evaluate your overall health. They can determine when it’s time for a balloon removal procedure.
Call the Gastro Center of Maryland near you today to find out if you qualify for a gastric balloon procedure or schedule a consultation online.
