Gastric perforation and death after the insertion of an intragastric balloon.
We report a case of a patient who presented with an acute abdomen 2 days after the insertion of an intragastric balloon system and discuss in detail the advantages and drawbacks of these devices in the therapy of morbid obesity. A 43-year-old morbidly obese man was admitted to the department of surgery in shock with a 2-h history of severe diffuse abdominal pain and the initial diagnosis of visceral perforation. The patient had been subjected to intragastric placement of an inflatable balloon 48 h prior to his presentation. Abdominal exploration revealed the presence of a large linear perforation in the fundus of the stomach.
Koutelidakis
Ioannis
I
G.Gennimatas Hospital, 2nd Surgical Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ethnikis Aminis, 41, P. O. Box 54635, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Dragoumis
Dimitrios
D
Papaziogas
Basilios
B
Patsas
Aristidis
A
Katsougianopoulos
Alexandros
A
Atmatzidis
Stefanos
S
Atmatzidis
Konstantinos
K
D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D015905:Gastric Balloon / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005748:Gastric Fundus / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013275:Stomach Rupture / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery