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The gastric balloon procedure, sometimes inaccurately referred to colloquially as stomach balloon surgery, is becoming an increasingly popular and cost-effective technique to help people lose weight. It has garnered much interest from those seeking to gain an advantage in the battle against obesity—an interest evidenced by the many questions we receive on a regular basis, regarding various facets of the gastric balloon procedure, as well as the high frequency and volume of internet searches concerning the same.
People who want to know how to lose weight fast or the best way to lose weight often search for ‘balloon surgery,’ ‘gastric balloon surgery,’ ‘stomach balloon surgery,’ and, in the case of the thrifty, ‘gastric balloon surgery cost.’ But the gastric balloon procedure is not really a bariatric surgery at all. In fact, it is non-surgical and non-invasive, which are two of its greatest advantages. Is it the best way to lose weight? Well, that depends, but if you meet the criteria outlined hereafter, it just might be a favourable option.
Below you’ll find answers to some of the most popular questions sent our way. Also included are links to both information on cost/prices and those all-important gastric balloon reviews. We hope you find this FAQ useful, but, of course, if you have a question not answered here, feel free to contact us directly.
We offer the Spatz3 Adjustable Balloon System®, designed for 12-month implantation, and the ORBERA® or MedSil® gastric balloon systems, each designed for six-month implantation. All three balloons are manufactured in accordance with EU product regulations.
The six-month balloon tends to be less irritating to the stomach, but its liquid content cannot be adjusted after implantation. Conversely, the 12-month option allows for the addition of liquid, should the patient be losing weight too slowly, or reduction thereof, should the inverse be true, but it does have a greater tendency to cause irritation.
The maximum capacity for the Spatz3® balloon is 850 ml and 700 ml for both the ORBERA® and MedSil® balloons. In all cases, the balloon must be filled to a minimum of 400 ml and is typically not filled to maximum capacity, as this has the potential to cause undue ongoing stomach sickness—at least in the beginning stages following implantation.
Each type of balloon is approximately 11 cm (4 in) in diameter when filled.
Approximately one-third of total stomach volume.
Each type of balloon comprises a soft silicone body and contains no gluten.
The liquid is composed of 5% NaCl or saline, combined with a contrast dye known as methylene blue. In the rare event of balloon rupture or leak, the liquid does no harm and will simply pass out of the body, turning urine blue as an indication of the leak.
The balloon can be identified by ultrasound or X-ray, but not by touch. The stomach of a person with a balloon may appear as though that person has just eaten a meal, but the balloon does not create a defined hump in the stomach area.
Barring any defects, the liquid amount—and therefore the size of the balloon—does not diminish for the period of implantation. As a result, it is usually only necessary to increase the fluid amount if the patient stops losing weight at the original volume.
The gastric balloon procedure (remember, it’s not a surgery) might cost less than you think, but how much a gastric balloon is depends in no small part on where you have it done. You can find our list of gastric balloon prices here.
The two options differ in terms of the type of gastric balloon used and the corresponding implantation period. One balloon is designed for an implantation period of six months, the other for 12.
A longer implantation period affords the patient more time to grow accustomed to diet and lifestyle changes.
As of this writing, our clinic has implanted the six-month balloon about 600 times and the 12-month balloon about 150 times, for an approximate total of 750 implantations. In other words, they’re well experienced.
Usually between 10 and 20 kg (22 and 44 lbs).
Numbers, in this case, are not particularly helpful, because weight loss is directly influenced by the patient’s behaviour and his or her original weight. We understand our clients want to know how to lose weight fast—and the gastric balloon can certainly be an aid in this regard—but the best way to lose weight, safely and in concert with the balloon, is by sensible diet and lifestyle changes. Without these elements, chances of success are markedly reduced.
That said, the lowest weight loss recorded at the clinic using the Spatz3® balloon is 0 kg. There was one client who even put on a kilo or more, but who later admitted he still relied upon fast food for his daily food intake.
Nevertheless, the Spatz3® balloon is usually effective—average weight loss at the clinic comes to about 25 kg, and the record high is 40 kg.
No. We only calculate body mass index (BMI). We do not record specific body fat, bone, muscle, connective tissue, or water composition measures.
As a bariatric procedure, the gastric balloon is intended for those with a body mass index of 27 or greater and for whom other non-surgical attempts to lose weight have met with failure. It can also be particularly helpful to those considered too overweight for surgery.
The balloon is not recommended for individuals with any of the following: prior gastrointestinal surgery resulting in sequelae; prior open or laparoscopic bariatric surgery; significant hiatal hernia; acute ulcer (stomach or duodenal); inflammatory diseases of the GI tract; diabetes requiring insulin therapy; potential upper gastrointestinal bleeding; or any medical condition precluding endoscopy.
Scars, both internal and external, resulting from abdominal surgery must be at least six months old—preferably older. The vomiting that often follows implantation can potentially rupture young scar tissue and sutures.
The gastric balloon is also not recommended for individuals who have mental health problems; alcohol or drug addictions; receive daily prescribed treatment with aspirin, anti-inflammatory agents, corticosteroids, anticoagulants or other gastric irritants; are currently or may be pregnant or breast-feeding; or are not willing to participate in a diet and behaviour modification programme.
The vomiting commonly associated with the early stages following implantation can act as a trigger for hypoglycaemia, posing a serious risk to the patient.
Yes. The preoperative check-up is carried out on the day of the procedure, after you check in to the clinic. A nurse takes your blood, and you provide a urine sample. Just before the actual procedure, an endoscopic examination of throat, stomach, and duodenum is performed.
What restrictions are there before balloon implantation, adjustment, or removal procedures?
In all cases, it is critical not to smoke, eat, or drink after midnight prior to the day of the procedure. On the day, you must be completely healthy.
You arrive to the clinic between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Upon signing the agreement, you are taken to your room, where you change into your hospital gown and the nurse performs preoperative blood and urine tests. Whilst awaiting the test results, you relax in your room and make payment. After the procedure, you are attended to in your room by the 24/7 nurse staff.
Between 20 and 30 minutes.
Implantation of the balloon is non-invasive. It is performed endoscopically under intravenous sedation, which ensures that the patient experiences minimum discomfort.
One night for implantation and, for adjustment or extraction, six hours following the procedure. In the case of implantation, you are released to go home the following day—by 2 p.m. on Fridays, as the clinic is closed at the weekend.
Is it allowable for me to stay the night at a hotel instead of the clinic following the implantation procedure?
No. For reasons of medical supervision, the patient must stay at the clinic the first night following implantation.
Barring any complications, following release you are free to return home. There is typically no need to remain in Prague, unless you wish it—which you might.
Many of our clients come from abroad, flying home the day after the procedure, and we have received no reports of adverse reactions to high altitudes. Nor have airlines issued any prohibitions against flying following the procedure. Thus, based upon our experience and that of our patients, we currently issue no restrictions concerning air travel after the procedure.
You may attempt exercise a minimum of three weeks after the procedure, but for some this may be too early. It depends on how you feel, and personal judgement must be employed in the matter, along with the advice of your physician.
For the first three days following implantation, you will need to adhere to a strictly liquid diet, comprising semi skimmed milk, low calorie/reduced sugar squash, herbal teas, water-juice mixes, and clarified beef or chicken broth-based soups.
From the end of the third day to day 10, soft foods may be introduced, but portions should remain small. Examples of suitable foods include yoghurt, mashed potato, and blended fruits and vegetables. Between meals, you may drink tea or water.
The clinic itself does provide a basic diet plan, but Medical Travel also offers tailored diet plans, a meal planner, and weight loss tips through its Post-procedure Customised Nutrition Programme. You can find more details here (scroll down). Of course, diet plans, a meal planner, and weight loss tips alone may be insufficient to help you lose the weight you want, but, in concert with the gastric balloon, they can work wonders.
We recommend drinking fizzy beverages or beer in small amounts, which may afford some relief by inducing belching. Alternatively, we recommend metoclopramide in the form of drops, not tablets. Also, try antacids to soothe the oesophagus and stomach and Thiethylperazine suppositories to guard against vomiting.
Here’s what our very own bariatric specialist, Dr. Jungwirthová, has to say about nausea as it relates to the gastric balloon:
‘Feeling unwell is very normal in the first weeks following insertion of the balloon.
In more sensitive people, these sensations are amplified. It’s a bit like travel sickness or the morning sickness experienced during the first weeks of pregnancy—but longer-lasting.
Sensations of pressure and bloating in the upper part of the stomach and epigastrium are normal. The balloon is turning and floating, basically acting as an obstruction—just like a big chunk of undigested food. The stomach is trying to liquidise and process it in order to send it down the digestive track, but this can’t be done, because the pyloric canal is too narrow, precluding transfer of the balloon into the large intestine. The journey back to the throat is also too narrow to allow regurgitation. It is thus the body’s inability to digest the balloon that leads to a feeling of sickness.
The suggestion to drink beer or fizzy beverages is just general advice, and these drinks help mainly by relieving excessive pressure in the stomach through belching. Lactose intolerance may be dealt with by consuming fermented dairy products, which tend to break up the lactose. Sweetened milk, however, should be eliminated from the diet.
For those who prefer a diet of solid foods to soft ones (once intake of solid foods is allowable), antacids can serve as a replacement to fermented dairy products.
A critical aspect to dealing with nausea in the early stages after implantation is to persevere and not to rely too much on medications, which should be viewed as auxiliary. Do your best to find a way to tolerate the balloon. For sensitive persons with a tendency to vomit, a small dose of anxiolytics or an herbal preparation such as valerian may help simply by calming them down.
It is also important to try not to think of having a strange object in the stomach. Suppress in your mind any thoughts that you have an imposter in your body. Typically, everything will calm down with time.’
Right after the procedure, infusions are given to counteract pain and vomiting.
For home use, you will receive:
Omeprazole (20 mg), to be taken morning and evening for the duration of the implantation period to help reduce acid production in the stomach.
Prokinetics, to be taken thrice daily, 20 minutes before each meal—i.e., morning, midday, and evening—for roughly the first two months following implantation. The balloon causes food to remain in the stomach longer, acting as an artificial barrier to digestion; the prokinetic helps to counteract this by stimulating gastrointestinal motility.
For use in the event of abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bruising, or heartburn, you will also receive:
Antiemetic suppositories, to counteract vomiting and to be taken as needed at a maximum of four times per day.
An antacid, three to four sachets of which are to be taken daily.
An analgesic, at a dosage of 20 to 25 drops up to three times a day.
As an endoscopic procedure, gastric balloon implantation presents fewer potential complications than invasive surgical weight loss procedures that employ general anaesthesia. However, it does carry the following risks:
Given the relative frequency of nausea and stomach sickness, the clinic makes no formal record of those who have experienced these symptoms nor of those who have experienced none whatsoever.
Importantly, no infections have been reported.
Not one balloon rupture has occurred in any of the clinic’s patients. As such, there have been no related complications.
As of this writing, five times, two of which were due to patients changing their minds only three days after implantation.
When adjusting or extracting the balloon, analgosedation is used, but the side effects typical to implantation, such as nausea stomach discomfort, tend not to occur, so the patient can usually leave the same afternoon. However, both adjustment and extraction each require the patient stay in the clinic for at least six hours following the procedure.
Due to the analgosedation, operating a motor vehicle is prohibited for some time after the procedure, so a driver will be required.
Pre-treatment tests are not required for adjustment and extraction.
Barring early extraction due to complications, the balloon is removed either six months or one year after implantation, depending on the type of balloon used. The balloon is extracted in the same manner it was inserted—endoscopically.
A good question. The gastric balloon is now available in many countries around the world, true, but going abroad for treatment can afford certain advantages in terms of cost, without sacrificing quality—providing you choose the right destination.
Particularly, coming to Prague for the gastric balloon through Medical Travel can provide additional benefits in the way of savvy customer assistance and touring guidance. We know the lay of the land well and leverage that knowledge to get you top-tier medical care at the best prices. Why spend more when you can spend less?
What’s in an unsolicited review? Well, quite a bit, we think. To read gastric balloon reviews from some of our clients, have a look here, where you’ll learn what people really think—not only of the procedure, but of our services as well.
