Intragastric balloon
A sphere made of soft and innocuous material that, once it is introduced in the stomach, is saline-filled (600 ml) and left floating freely in the gastric cavity. It is placed endoscopically under sedation and without hospitalisation. This procedure takes about 15 to 20 minutes and after 2 hours in the observation room, the patient can go home.
The maximum time a balloon can be left in place is 6 months, after which it must be removed.
Gastric restriction procedures
This is a mechanism that significantly decreases the size of the stomach. The most common operation is vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), which consists of stapling the stomach to create a gastric pouch the capacity of which is approximately 10% of the normal capacity of the stomach.
Lap band
The lap band represents an important advancement within this field. It consists of the placement iof a silicone ring in the proximal area of the stomach that creates a small gastric reservoir of about 15 to 20 cm3. This operation is similar to a VBG.
Gastric bypass
This mechanism is similar to VBG but can cause dumping syndrome in patients who tend to eat sweet food.
Malabsorption techniques
These promote weight loss by modifying the normal absorption of foods in the digestive tract.
Biliopancreatic bypass
This combines a gastrectomy adapted to the weight of the patient with a reduction of the absorption surface of the small intestine of up to 25% of its total capacity.
