Your guide to gastric balloon weight loss systems
There is a lot of information to absorb when you first start delving into the realm of gastric balloon treatment, and it can be overwhelming. This page is meant to help you get a clearer idea of which treatment might be right for your needs. Of course, the final decision will rest heavily on input from your Fresno Athenix medical team, and partnership with your primary care physician may be required.
Both gastric balloon systems are temporary and non-surgical, with the device being removed at the six-month marker. The gastric balloons are inserted through the mouth with the assistance of an endoscope, or tiny tubular camera, which guides the device down to the stomach. There it is filled with a varying amount of sterilized saline. Total treatment time is under 30 minutes and only light sedation is needed.
The implant keeps patients feeling full and satisfied with smaller portions so they can lose the pounds and slowly adopt incremental lifestyle changes that will keep the weight off long term.
How do Orbera and Reshape differ?
Orbera has been around slightly longer than Reshape, although in the US, both devices were only recently approved by the FDA, in 2015. Orbera has one balloon, which is filled with 550 cc of saline, and Reshape has a dual balloon design, with a total saline capacity of 900 cc. The other main difference is that with Reshape, you will need to suffer from a co-morbidity such as diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnea. If you do not have these ailments, then the Orbera system will be more appropriate for your situation.
In clinical trials, Orbera patients were shown to lose up to 3 times the amount of excess weight as when they relied on diet and exercise changes alone to slim down. Reshape was not far behind, effecting twice as much weight loss as with dieting by itself.
Because Reshape is a next generation gastric implant, it has some nice safety features, one of these being its blue-tinted saline, which alerts clients if one of the balloons has ruptured. This is very rare and unlikely, but should it happen, you can immediately know to call your doctor just by examining the color of your urine. Additionally, the double-bubble engineering means that if a single balloon deflates, the other will keep the device from shifting and potentially harming the patient.
This chart creates an at-a-glance visual of the key differences between Orbera and Reshape:
Orbera Gastric Balloon
One sphere
550cc
Free-floating
6 months
30-40 BMI
Co-morbidities not required
Prior bariatric surgery not allowed
Reshape Gastric Balloon
Two spheres
900cc (2 spheres)
Snug, shapely fit placement
6 months
30-40 BMI
Co-morbidities required
Prior bariatric surgery not allowed
Schedule a new patient consultation at no charge and find out if the gastric balloon procedure is right for you.
Schedule a consultation