If you’re interested in losing 30 to 50 pounds or more without medications or surgery, an endoscopic gastric balloon may be a great option for you. This fully reversible procedure is designed to help jumpstart your weight loss journey and put you on the path to living the full and healthy life you want.
At True You Weight Loss, our triple board-certified physicians specialize in non-surgical, minimally-invasive weight loss treatments like the gastric balloon. When coupled with lifestyle changes and ongoing support, these procedures can lead to lasting weight loss success.
True You offers two different types of non-surgical gastric balloons. While the balloons are similar, they offer varying designs and duration of placement. During your initial consultation, your True You Weight Loss team can help you determine which gastric balloon might be best for you.
The ORBERA® Intragastric Balloon System is a non-surgical procedure that helps patients initiate and maintain long-term weight loss. The procedure involves the placement of a small silicone balloon into the stomach using an endoscope, which makes you feel full faster and eat smaller food portions.
The ORBERA® balloon is removed after six months and leaves no permanent changes to your anatomy. It’s an outpatient procedure that takes approximately 15 minutes and is performed under sedation but not general anesthesia (requiring no ventilator use).
In U.S. clinical trials, patients lost an average of 21.8 pounds with the ORBERA® balloon, but motivated patients often lose significantly more weight. At True You, our average weight loss is between 30 and 50 pounds, with some losing as much as 100+ pounds.
The Spatz3 balloon is an intragastric balloon designed to jumpstart weight loss in patients who have been unsuccessful with diet and exercise alone. It’s a fully reversible, non-surgical procedure that takes approximately 15 minutes and is performed under sedation.
The Spatz3 balloon remains in the stomach for eight months. Throughout this time, patients may need to have their balloon adjusted down (removing a portion of the saline) to improve comfort/tolerance or adjusted up (adding more saline) to promote additional weight loss after a stall or slow down. This adjustability is a unique feature of the Spatz3 balloon.
En ensayos clínicos en los Estados Unidos, los pacientes perdieron un promedio del 15% de su peso corporal total o un promedio de 32 libras. La tasa de éxito (definida como más del 10% de pérdida de peso total o del 25% del peso excesivo) para el procedimiento Spatz es del 84%.
An intragastric balloon consists of a silicone balloon that is placed into the stomach and filled with saline. The balloon takes up space in the stomach to restrict the amount of food you can eat before feeling full. This device is left in the stomach for a prescribed period (usually 6-8 months) to help you jumpstart the weight loss process – and is removed at the end of your treatment. A gastric balloon placement procedure is fully reversible and leaves no permanent changes to the anatomy.
Gastric balloons have been used as a weight loss treatment for more than two decades. The technology and design have evolved considerably, resulting in the modern balloons we use for safe, healthy weight loss today.
The non-surgical gastric balloon is placed into the stomach endoscopically, which means no incisions, no scarring, and no general anesthesia. The procedure is quick, and the balloons have been proven to help patients lose three to four times more weight than they would with diet and exercise alone.
Our physicians are experts in endoscopic gastric balloon placement. They use an endoscope, which features a flexible tube with a camera on the end, allowing your doctor to “see” their way to the stomach to make a precise placement.
Once the balloon is in place, it is filled with a saline solution until it is about the size of a grapefruit. The entire procedure takes about 15 minutes to complete under sedation, and you will be able to go home the same day. Side effects are generally mild and subside after a few days.
The balloon will help you feel full much faster and will limit the amount of food you can eat. The intragastric balloon may also slow down stomach emptying, which will leave you feeling full for longer.
Most patients lose anywhere between 12% and 40% of their total body weight within six months, or 3-4 times more weight than they would lose with diet and exercise alone. Results depend on lifestyle changes and adhering to the True You Weight Loss program. Our highly personalized support and education are designed to keep you on track so you can achieve your weight loss goals.
At True You, we believe in transparency when it comes to the cost of a gastric balloon. Our pricing begins at $6,995.00, which includes services like your initial consultation and any necessary labs, unlimited medical follow-up, 24/7 direct physician access, and 12 months of one-on-one nutrition counseling.
Insurance does not cover the cost of a non-surgical gastric balloon at this time. However, we offer various opciones de financiamiento to make your weight loss treatment affordable for you.
The FDA approved the gastric balloon procedure in the U.S. in 2015. It is considered a safe and effective weight loss treatment. Since the procedure is not surgical, it has fewer risks and side effects than more invasive bariatric surgery.
Despite its track record for safety, this weight loss treatment is not for everyone. People who have had previous stomach surgery or currently have a hiatal hernia are not good candidates for this procedure. Individuals taking blood thinners or who have uncontrolled reflux (heartburn that is not controlled with medication) should also not undergo this procedure. Your True You physician will review your medical history, current conditions, and medications to determine whether this procedure is the right choice for you.
The intragastric balloon is not the only endoscopic weight loss procedure available. At True You, we also offer the innovative endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, which uses an endoscope and a revolutionary suturing device to reduce the stomach size by 70-80% without incisions or scarring. Our doctors will get to know your medical history and goals to help determine which procedure might work best for you.
This treatment can be highly effective when it is used as part of a comprehensive weight loss program. Most patients lose weight relatively quickly with the balloon in place, which motivates them to continue with the program. By the time the balloon is removed, patients have typically lost 10%-15% of their entire body weight. As with any program, motivated patients can lose much more than the average – and we’ve seen patients lose 100+ pounds.
You will need to stick to a modified diet for the first four weeks after your procedure, which is done in stages. First, you will be restricted to a liquid-only diet, adding pureed foods next. Soft foods are introduced during the third stage, moving to regular foods at the end of this process. We recommend three regular meals each day, spaced 3-4 hours apart. Due to the balloon placement, your portion sizes are likely to be much smaller than you were used to before your procedure.
A balloon pill is swallowed and naturally eliminated from the body a few months later. A gastric balloon is placed endoscopically by a physician. Some patients report more side effects like cramping and vomiting with the balloon pill. Swallowable weight loss balloons are not yet FDA-approved for use in the United States and are still being studied.
In some cases, certain patients may not be able to tolerate the balloon, necessitating its removal. This is a rare occurrence. For patients who choose the Spatz3 balloon, those experiencing ongoing discomfort can undergo a simple adjustment to remove some of the saline to increase tolerability.
Yes, these balloons are designed to be fully removed after the prescribed period (six months for Orbera and eight months for Spatz3). The non-surgical removal process takes less than 30 minutes and is performed while you are sedated for your comfort. First, your physician will insert the endoscope to deflate the balloon by removing the saline. Next, the balloon is removed from the stomach through the mouth.
The triple board-certified physicians at True You Weight Loss focus exclusively on non-surgical weight loss procedures – and our team includes the most experienced bariatric doctors in the country. They are frequently called upon to train physicians from all over the world in these advanced techniques, and when it comes to highly technical and complex procedures, experience matters. The True You Weight Loss team brings decades of expertise, backed by the personalized approach to care and ongoing support that we’re known for.
