The balloons spontaneously deflated in 6% of participants, signaled by the presence of blue-green urine in about two-thirds of these patients. All of the devices in these cases were successfully retrieved without problems, Dr. Ponce said.
Dr. Manoel P. Galvao Neto of the Gastro Obeso Center in São Paulo, Brazil, the invited discussant, commented that the study was well designed and carried out, with a clear methodology and frank assessment of adverse events, and it met all of its primary endpoints.
Excretable balloon
In a separate pilot study, eight patients who swallowed a limited-duration, self-emptying balloon (Elipse) that is excreted through the bowel lost an average of 12% of excess body weight, reported Dr. Evzen Machytka of the department of clinical studies at the University of Ostrava, Czech Republic.
For the trial, investigators used a custom device designed to self-deflate in 6 weeks. The device is packaged in a capsule and is attached to a thin capillary tube. The patient swallows the balloon without endoscopy or anesthesia. The capsule dissolves quickly, and when gastric positioning of the balloon is confirmed with x-rays, the balloon is then filled with 450 mL saline, in a process that takes approximately 15 minutes.
Dr. Evzen Machytka
After a prespecified time (6 weeks, in the case of the trial, 3 months in the device intended for market) a self-releasing valve opens, the balloon empties and is then excreted normally, Dr. Machytka said.
In the pilot trial, all eight balloons were safely excreted. One had deflated early because of a manufacturing defect, and one asymptomatic patient withdrew from the study because she “no longer enjoyed eating.” In both cases, the balloons were punctured via endoscopy but not retrieved, and were excreted normally in the stool 4 days later.
The investigators hope to receive marketing approval for the device in 2015, Dr. Machytka said.