The ingestible Elipse intragastric balloon has a restrictive action on the stomach, reducing its capacity and allowing the patient to experience a feeling of early satiety that makes weight loss.
The Elipse balloon is ingested in a short session with the bariatric surgeon and is expelled naturally after four months without having to resort to any surgical removal procedure.
The Elipse balloon is the product of an extensive research process, which began in 2009, when dr. Shantanu Gaur and dr. Samuel Levy were both students at Harvard Medical School. Since receiving the CE mark in 2015, the Elipse balloon is now available in Europe and the Middle East, establishing itself as a validated means for weight loss in patients with overweight, 1st degree obesity or as a “Bridge to surgery” procedure.
WORK UP
- Surgical visit (Dr. M. Avallone)
- Elipse positioning (Dr. M. Avallone)
- Check three days after placement with prescription for nutritional treatment (Dr. ssa Mandolini C., Dr. ssa Perilli A.)
- (Optional) Check every month from positioning for weight loss assessment and blood chemistry tests (Dr. ssa Mandolini C., Dr. ssa Perilli A.)
- (Optional) Four-month control (Dr. M. Avallone) for weight loss assessment, blood chemistry tests and nutritional treatment prescription
PROCEDURE
- Unlike other similar options currently on the market, this device does not require anesthesia but above all does not require endoscopic procedures neither for positioning nor for removal.
- Elipse looks like a capsule connected to a radiopaque wire, which is swallowed by the patient, with the help of water.
- Once ingested, a check x-ray is performed on the abdomen and, if correctly positioned in the stomach, it is filled through the tube with about 550 ml of physiological solution.
- Once the filling is complete, the tube is detached and the patient can go home. The procedure lasts on average a total of 15 minutes.
- The device is temporary; about 16 weeks after positioning, the device containment valve opens, causing it to empty into the stomach and the casing will spontaneously be expelled.
- It can be positioned in the Medical Office as long as there is a portable X-ray machine (Fluoroscopy).
