Salman Al Sabah, Dr, Nourah Alsharqawi, Dr, Ahmed Al Mulla, Dr. Al Amiri
Introduction: The Obalon® is a new intra-gastric balloon, which involves a self-inflating balloon after swallowing the Obalon® capsule. This eliminates the necessity for an endoscopy for insertion. This new device is placed for a 12 week period and extracted via endoscopy. This study aims at evaluating the efficacy and safety of the Obalon®.
Methods an Procedures: A retrospective analysis was performed on a total of 58 patients that underwent Obalon® insertion and removal from December 2014 to July 2015. Data included weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) and complication rate.
Results: 58 Kuwaiti patients underwent Obalon® insertion, of which the mean age was 36 (15-66) and 43 (80%) were females. Mean pre-procedure weight and BMI were 87kg and 33, respectively. A total of 54 out of 58 attempts (93%) to swallow the balloon were successful. All patients were followed up by a dietician and received two Obalons. There was a significant mean Weight loss of 1.4kg, 0.3kg and 0.3kg at one month, two months and three months, respectively (p-value <0.001). After removal of the Obalon®, a mean weight loss of 4kg and a BMI of 31 were documented. Of the 58 patients, two patients (4%) achieved a weight loss of more than 10kg. A total of two patients (4%) removed the Obalon® prior to completion of the 12 weeks due to nausea and epigastric pain and three patients lost follow up.
Conclusion: The Obalon® is feasible and safe. A significant mean weight loss at months one, two and three was noted. However, larger prospective studies are needed and the role of adding a third Obalon® should be further investigated.