Darrien Gaston, MD, FACP, FACG

Hello and thank you for your question,

Yes balloon can be removed before 6 months if you have reached your goal weight. But the most important benefit of balloon therapy is continuing the beneficial behaviors of dietary portion control and regular exercise. If you do not continue with these, then you will probably regain the weight that you worked so hard to lose. I have a patient that reached her goal weight after 4 months, I removed the balloon and the patient is still maintaining the weight. I hope this helps.

Take care,

Hello and thank you for your question,

The gastric balloon is contraindicated because gastric perforations  seen with the balloon have nearly exclusively occurred in patients who had prior gastric surgery of any kind. The issue is the scar tissue that is formed with any surgery. It is believed that the scar tissue serves as a point for rupture. I hope this helps.

Take care,

Hello and thank you for your question,

After having the sleeve procedure, the size of your stomach is reduced. Because the stomach is smaller, placing a balloon in the smaller space might increase the risk of complete obstruction of your stomach by the balloon. This would not be a good thing. I hope this helps.




Take care,

Hello,

Orbera is contraindicated after gastric bypass. With gastric bypass the size of the stomach has be made smaller and placing a balloon would quite possibly completely obstruct anything that you would attempt to eat or drink.

I hope this helps,




Take care.

Hello,

During the first week after placement, the patient is on a clear liquid diet. I usually allow patients to exercise when I know they can keep hydrated and take in proper nutrion. I hope this helps.




Take care,