Intragastric Balloon (BIB) for the Management of Obesity, Report on the First Egyptian Experience

Introduction: The bioenteric balloon (BIB) is widely applied in the management of obesity. Aim of the work: This is a report on the efficacy and safety of BIB® device in the first 101 Egyptian cases. Methods: Patients referred for BIB between January 2011 till December 2012 were evaluated retrospectively. BIB was inserted for 6 months according to predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: In 101 cases, 17 cases were males (16.8%) and 84 cases were females (83.2%), mean age 33.2 (±10.44) years, mean BMI 35.9 (±4.65) kg/m2. None of the patients exhibited balloon migration or perforation. The balloon was removed upon request in 3 patients due to exaggerated intolerance (2.9%). The mean weight loss was 15.5 kg (±4.67), mean EWL 64.12% (±23.48%). The mean BMI at extraction was 29.7 kg/m2 (±4.48) with a BMI loss of 6.2 kg/m2 (±2.0). 87 patients (88.7%) achieved target EWL (32.1% of excess weight), and 87 patients lost >12.2% of their basal weight (88.7%). 70 patients achieved BMI loss >5.7 kg/m2 (71.4%). Conclusion: BIB achieves acceptable success with minimal complications. In further long term, prospective studies are needed to evaluate obesity related comorbidities when using such modality and to compare it to other available devices.