Patients with the Orbera intragastric balloon lose three times more weight than dieting and exercising alone in six months. The soft balloon fills the space in the stomach to help you feel full sooner when eating.
Balloon placement is followed by a 12-month program that includes your team’s coaching in diet and exercise, including a dietitian, psychologist, and fitness trainer. It helps you maintain weight loss long-term.
What is the Orbera Balloon?
The Orbera balloon weight loss system is a nonsurgical, short-term (temporary) stomach balloon designed to fill the difference between bariatric surgery and diet and exercise for people with obesity. Your stomach is given a smooth, soft saline-filled balloon around the size of a grapefruit, which takes up space, teaches you how to eat smaller meals, and encourages healthy eating and lifestyle choices.
Most patients see the most drastic results during the first six months when they have the balloon in their stomach and work alongside a dedicated team to change their eating patterns. Some lose up to 20 to 50 pounds during this time!
Once your weight loss objectives have been met, the Orbera balloon will be removed confidently. It’s a simple and minimally invasive procedure that only takes about 20 minutes.
To maximize your results, be sure to commit to a 12-month program. It includes six months with the balloon in your stomach and another six without, as well as regular face-to-face sessions with a nutritionist, fitness trainer, psychologist, or doctor to help you change your mindset and improve your health. You’ll also access a comprehensive mobile app, built explicitly for bariatric patients, and features intuitive nutrition tracking and reminders.
How Does the Orbera Balloon Work?
The Orbera balloon is intended to inhabit the stomach space, effectively delaying digestion and achieving satiety with lesser quantities of food. It helps you develop healthier eating habits and makes healthy weight loss easier.
During the non-surgical procedure, you are lightly sedated while a doctor uses an endoscope to insert a deflated gastric balloon through the mouth into your stomach. It’s then injected with saline and sealed. Following the procedure, it is standard practice for patients to adhere to a liquid diet for a week before gradually transitioning to soft foods. This protocol typically spans 20-30 minutes. Your doctor will also prescribe acid blockers and anti-nausea medications if needed.
For the first six months that the Orbera balloon is in your stomach, you’ll work with a dietitian and fitness trainer online to improve your diet and exercise habits. It will help you retrain your brain to notice when you feel full.
The balloon is removed after six months. During the process, your doctor will continue to provide support via the Baritastic app. It includes intuitive nutrition tracking, reminders, and other features.
What Are the Side Effects of the Orbera Balloon?
A few side effects may occur while the Orbera balloon is in your stomach. Most of these are temporary and expected, including nausea, bloating, and diarrhea. They will gradually improve as your body adjusts to the balloon.
After a short, nonsurgical procedure, an endoscope inserts the balloon into your stomach. During this time, you will be lightly sedated to tolerate the procedure. Once the balloon is in place, you can return home with dietary instructions to follow for the first week after insertion.
During this time, you must be committed to working with your entire treatment team, which includes a nutritional coach, fitness trainer, and psychologist. Open and constant communication between all members of your treatment team is vital to achieving the best possible results. In fact, in a six-month clinical study, patients lost, on average, 3.1x more weight with Orbera than with diet and exercise alone.
The only rare complications may happen when you have a gastric or esophageal perforation or bowel obstruction. It is not very likely to occur and has only happened in a few cases after other intragastric balloons (ReShape, Lap Band) have been used. The risk of these complications is significantly less if you follow the guidelines for your treatment and have your Orbera balloon removed after a year.
What Can I Expect from the Orbera Balloon?
If you’re looking for an easy-to-follow weight loss program that provides motivating results, the Orbera two-part system is a great option. This unique treatment plan combines the use of the intragastric balloon for six months with a medically supervised diet and exercise program. The balloon takes up space in your stomach, preventing you from overeating and reinforcing portion control.
The gastric balloon is placed during a nonsurgical, 20-30 minute endoscopic procedure while you are mildly sedated. A diagnostic endoscopy will be performed before the procedure to ensure your safety. Then, the deflated balloon will be carefully inserted through your mouth and into your stomach. Once in place, the balloon will be filled with saline solution until it reaches the size of a grapefruit.
Once the balloon is in place, you’ll lose weight quickly as your brain begins to anticipate feeling complete with smaller portions. During this time, you will also receive regular face-to-face support from our team of experts, including a dietician, personal trainer, and exercise psychologist.
In fact, on average, patients using the balloon system lose 3.1 times more weight than they would with diet and exercise alone*.
