Comparing Intragastric Balloon Placement with Low Calorie Diet in Short-Term Weight Loss

Dieting is the most popular weight loss approach among the general population, but usually, after reaching their goal, they regain their weight. So, people resort to diet again, and this weight cycle continues. Also, bariatric surgery is mainly suggested for patients with BMI > 35. After intragastric balloons acquired FDA approval again in 2015 after their first FDA approval was withdrawn in 1992, they are gaining popularity. Since their design has changed lately, studies are controversial about them being more effective than dieting. In this clinical trial, 68 obese patients with a BMI > 30 were randomly assigned into two groups of 34. Group A was planned to receive a low-calorie diet, and group B had a intragastric balloon. After 6 months, participants were compared. Two patients from group A chose to forfeit the study, and one patient from group B was replaced with another one due to severe nausea and vomiting. At the beginning of the trial, the groups were similar in demographics, BMI, and weight (group A: BMI = 43.24 ± 7.05; weight = 114.63 ± 22.12 kg and group B: BMI = 38.99 ± 6.65; weight = 103.9 ± 25.31 kg). After 6 months, the average weight loss in group A was 6.47 ± 4.63 kg vs 12.7 ± 5.93 kg in group B (p-value < 0.001) and BMI was 40.81 ± 6.89 vs 34.08 ± 6.47 in group B (p-value < 0.001). %EWL in group B and group C were %15.28 ± 1.19 and %40.98 ± 1.25, respectively (P-value < 0.001). Intragastric balloon placement is more effective than dieting for short-term weight loss.