First Patients in NHS Receive New Gastric Balloon Weight Loss Treatment
For the first time in the history of the NHS, a new treatment has been introduced to aid individuals with severe, complex obesity.
The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has announced that the first NHS patients have been given a weight-loss pill containing a gastric balloon.
This innovative treatment aims to make patients feel fuller for longer and can be administered within 15 minutes.
Richard Welbourn, a consultant bariatric surgeon at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, expressed his satisfaction in providing this pioneering NHS treatment while emphasizing the need for patients to adhere to a balanced nutrition and fitness plan in order to achieve significant weight loss with the pill.
The treatment has been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) and the first two NHS patients received it at Musgrove Park Hospital, a part of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
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The gastric balloon occupies space in the patient’s stomach, reducing food intake and slowing the passage of food through the body.
This treatment is in the form of a small, vegan capsule. Once in the patient’s stomach, a doctor inflates the balloon with 550ml of water using a catheter or a tube.
Patients need an X-ray to confirm the balloon’s position, and a second X-ray to determine whether or not the balloon is full and correctly situated in the stomach before the tube is removed.
The balloon naturally deflates and passes out of the body after approximately 16 weeks. Allurion describes the gastric balloon treatment as a “safe and temporary solution.”
Richard Welbourn shared that the Allurion balloon provides a quick, outpatient procedure for individuals with severe obesity, with an average weight loss of 10-15 percent in four months and a total body weight loss of 23 percent with a second balloon placement in a 12-month period.
Adequacy
Allurion has been in discussions with the NHS since 2020 to make the treatment available to patients and will continue to do so.
In 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) published its recommendations on the efficacy of swallowable gastric balloon capsules for weight loss.
For those seeking long-term weight loss, the treatment’s efficacy was found to be “inadequate.”
Complications listed included dehydration, readmission, re-operation, and necessitated intervention within the first 30 days.
The NCBI also mentioned that severe adverse events from the balloon, such as gastric perforation, balloon migration, and mortality, are rare. It advised against using the pill for patients with a history of gastric surgeries, severe liver disease, drug addiction, or alcoholism.
Obesity
The Allurion gastric balloon treatment is now accessible to NHS patients with severe, complicated obesity.
Another three patients are scheduled for the balloon placement in February, and up to a dozen others are due to undergo the procedure throughout 2024.
Although it has not yet been recommended on the NHS, Tirzepatide has been approved by the service to treat type 2 diabetes.
In September, the NHS launched a weight-loss jab, Wegovy, to help combat obesity. Experts have highlighted side effects, such as kidney failure and abnormal dreams, from Wegovy and Ozempic injections, brand names for semaglutide.
