What is Intragastric Balloon?

Gastric balloon or endoscopic intragastric balloon, as it is known in medical language, is a non-surgical obesity treatment method that has been applied all over the world and has proven its validity. The basic logic is to reduce the need for food by inducing a feeling of satiety with the help of a balloon placed in the stomach. It is widely used especially in overweight and obese people who are not at the border of surgery.

How Is An Intragastric Balloon Applied?

There is no need for surgery for the intragastric balloon. The patient does not need to be operated for the balloon placed in the stomach. The balloon is placed in the patient’s stomach with the help of an endoscope, while the patient is weakly anesthetized. There is liquid or air in the balloon. The placement process takes about 15-20 minutes. The balloon can remain in the stomach for 6 months to 1 year. It is then easily removed within 5-6 minutes by endoscopic method. During this time, people are usually trained on how to eat by trying themselves.

How Does It Make You Lose Weight?

Normally, after people start eating, the stomach is stretched with the food taken. Thus, the feeling of satiety in the brain is stimulated and the person’s desire to eat decreases. The balloon placed in the stomach decreases the food intake capacity of the stomach and provides a feeling of satiety quickly. With the balloon method, patients can lose about 7-8 kilos in a few months.

Who Is Intragastric Balloon Applied to?

The most important advantage of the intragastric balloon is that it can be applied simply without surgery and does not create a permanent change in the body. The disadvantage is that after the balloon is removed, if the patients do not change their lifestyles and do not continue their diet, the weight that have been lost is regained.  Today, although it has lost its former popularity, it is used as a preparation for obesity surgery to be applied in patients who are too risky to undergo surgery or who are extremely obese.

Intragastric Balloon yazısı ilk önce Assoc. Professor Soykan Barlas üzerinde ortaya çıktı.

What are the symptoms of reflux?

Reflux usually gives noisy symptoms such as burning, rancidity, pain and spasm. The most common complaints of patients are the arrival of bitter stomach content in the mouth at night after a late meal, bitter water when taking something from the floor or when tying shoes. Sometimes, reflux findings are more hidden and manifest with other disorders. For example, sore throat, hoarseness, dry cough, tooth decay and bad breath.

What causes reflux disorder?

I mentioned that there is a valve mechanism between the esophagus and the stomach entrance. All reasons that disrupt the function of this cover can cause reflux. Some medications, foods, and hormones can cause reflux. The causes of reflux can be counted as smoking, alcohol, chocolate and cocoa foods, peppermint, fatty and spicy foods, coffee, caffeine, tea, some blood pressure and heart medications. Surgically, the most important reason is the disruption of the valve function with the herniation of the stomach by sliding towards the chest cavity. Here, too, the problem is obesity, wearing very tight clothes, and the causes that increase the pressure in the abdominal cavity such as an abdominal mass.

How is reflux disorder diagnosed?

In patients who apply to the physician with complaints due to reflux, a camera called gastroscopy is performed to examine the initial part of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. With this procedure, it is checked whether the complaints are caused by gastric wall inflammation called gastritis or reflux due to gastric hernia. Meanwhile, the damage caused by reflux to the esophagus is also seen. When a hernia is detected in the patient, the frequency of reflux to the esophagus and the pressure of the valve mechanism can be checked by applying methods called pH meter and manometer.

What is good for reflux? How is reflux disorder treated?

In patients who do not have many complaints, the lifestyle is tried to be changed first. Some of the methods that can be applied are taking the dinner hours earlier, not eating cocoa, fatty and spicy foods that can cause reflux, quitting smoking and alcohol, using a reflux pillow, and losing weight. Drugs that reduce stomach acid also contribute to the reduction of complaints.

How is reflux surgery done?

If the source of reflux is a hernia, this is a mechanical problem as in all other hernias and should be resolved surgically. Reflux surgery is the only real treatment option. Reflux surgery is performed laparoscopically with a camera by making small incisions on the abdomen. The upper part of the stomach, called the fundus, which is freed from the herniated area, is wrapped around the lower part of the esophagus as if it were a clamp. In the meantime, the hernia area is repaired. In this way, the stomach is prevented from sliding upwards and a valve mechanism is created again.

When will I return to my normal life after the operation?

Patients usually leave the hospital within 2 days after reflux surgery. During the first month, it is necessary to feed with juicy and soft foods in order to allow the esophagus to get used to its new condition. After 10-14 days from the operation, normal life and working life can be resumed. 

Reflux Surgery yazısı ilk önce Assoc. Professor Soykan Barlas üzerinde ortaya çıktı.

• Gastric polyps,
• Parasite Helicobacter pylori,
• Highly salty, pickled or smoked foods,
• Presence of gastric cancer in a first degree relative,
• Metal and plastic industry labor,
• Smoking

How Is Gastric Cancer Diagnosed?

Weight loss is particularly important. Patients usually admit to the hospital because of having no appetite and having lost 8-10 kilos in the last month. Anemia may occur due to bleeding from the tumor. In the presence of a gastric tumor, the complaints that can be seen in the patient are generally;

• Weight loss,
• Anemia,
• Early satiety and feeling of fullness in the stomach,
• Feeling stuck while swallowing food,
• Midline cramping pain just below the rib cage.

These complaints are not unique to gastric cancer. It can also be seen in the presence of advanced gastritis or stomach ulcers.However, when patients with these complaints for a long time consult a physician, unfortunately the disease is usually in advanced form.Early diagnosis is very important in stomach cancer as well as in all other cancers. The diagnosis of the disease is made by a procedure called gastroscopy, where the esophagus, stomach and duodenum are examined with a camera. A biopsy material can also be obtained during the procedure. When gastric cancer is diagnosed after biopsy, the extent of the disease in the body and stomach wall is determined by imaging methods such as tomography and / or positron emission tomography (PET). In this way, the stage of the gastric cancer is understood and the treatment planning is made according to this staging.

In Japan, where gastric cancer is common due to the diet, people are screened within a certain program, so that gastric cancer can be diagnosed at a very early stage. As with most cancers, early diagnosis in gastric cancer extends the life span significantly. Therefore, in the presence of the aforementioned complaints, referring to a physician without delay may be life-saving.

How is it treated?

The stage at which the cancer diagnosis is made is very important. Gastric cancer, the diagnosis of which is made in the first stage and has not spread to the surrounding lymph nodes, can even be treated endoscopically in suitable patients. The treatment of more advanced gastric cancer such as stage 2 and stage 3 is surgery. Depending on the location of the tumor in the stomach, all or part of the stomach can be removed. By connecting the remaining part of the patient’s esophagus or stomach to the small intestine, the continuity of the digestive system is ensured. The lymph nodes where tumor cells may have spread during the surgery must also be cleaned. Treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy only provide support. Gastric cancer surgery can be performed as open surgery, with laparoscopy or robotic surgery. In stage 4 gastric cancer, where the tumor metastasized to distant organs, the benefit from surgery is limited. At this stage, surgical treatments, called palliative, that increase the comfort of life of the patient are applied.

Remember that the most important benefit in the treatment is provided by consulting a physician without wasting time in the presence of stomach complaints and starting treatment early.

Gastric Cancer yazısı ilk önce Assoc. Professor Soykan Barlas üzerinde ortaya çıktı.