O’Neill RS, Goh LH, Lee C, Jia K, Feller R. Endoscopic management of intragastric balloon related gastric outlet obstruction: A case report and review of literature. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(30): 108934 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i30.108934]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Robert S O’Neill, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Vincent’s Hospital, 380 Victoria Street, Sydney 2010, New South Wales, Australia. rone1111@outlook.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Oct 26, 2025; 13(30): 108934 Published online Oct 26, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i30.108934
Endoscopic management of intragastric balloon related gastric outlet obstruction: A case report and review of literature
Robert S O’Neill, Li-Han Goh, Christina Lee, Kevin Jia, Robert Feller
Robert S O’Neill, Li-Han Goh, Robert Feller, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney 2010, New South Wales, Australia
Robert S O’Neill, Robert Feller, School of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2010, New South Wales, Australia
Robert S O’Neill, Christina Lee, Kevin Jia, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Campbelltown Hospital, Sydney 2560, New South Wales, Australia
Co-first authors: Robert S O’Neill and Li-Han Goh.
Author contributions: O’Neill RS, Goh LH, Lee C, Jia K, and Feller R wrote the manuscript; O’Neill RS, Goh LH, and Feller R were involved in the patient care and reviewed the manuscript. O’Neill RS and Goh LH contributed equally to this manuscript and are co-first authors.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Robert S O’Neill, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Vincent’s Hospital, 380 Victoria Street, Sydney 2010, New South Wales, Australia. rone1111@outlook.com
Received: April 27, 2025 Revised: May 19, 2025 Accepted: August 15, 2025 Published online: October 26, 2025 Processing time: 168 Days and 21.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Obesity remains a significant global health concern, and intragastric balloons (IGBs) offer a minimally invasive weight loss option for patients who fail lifestyle and pharmacotherapy interventions. IGBs can cause complications ranging from mild symptoms to severe issues like gastric outlet obstruction (GOO). This report discusses a 39-year-old woman who presented with clinical and radiological features of GOO post Silimed IGB placement.
CASE SUMMARY
A 39-year-old woman presented to our institution with two-week history of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting post prandially. This was in the context of a Silimed IGB placement two weeks prior to presentation for weight loss in the context of obesity. A computed tomography of the abdomen demonstrated the IGB device in the body and prepyloric region, with proximal dilatation of the body and fundus of the stomach which contained gastric contents. Due to concerns for GOO, the IGB was removed endoscopically with subsequent symptom alleviation. In addition to this, we performed a literature search of cases of IGB related GOO using the PubMed and Web of Science databases from inception date to the August 26, 2024. A total of 27 articles were included in the analysis, identifying 29 cases of IGB-related GOO. These patients commonly presented with nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, with symptom onset varying from 3 days to 18 months post IGB insertion. Abdominal computed tomography was the primary diagnostic tool and endoscopic removal was the standard treatment modality.
CONCLUSION
This is the first reported case of GOO caused by Silimed IGB. While effective for weight reduction, IGB-related GOO is a rare but serious complication, usually requiring endoscopic retrieval. Future research should aim to identify patient factors linked to this complication to enhance clinical-decision making and outcomes.
Core Tip: Gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) secondary to intragastric balloon (IGB) insertion for obesity management is a rare and severe complication with significant patient morbidity. The onset of symptoms of GOO secondary to IGB is variable with the management usually endoscopic. We present the case of a 39-year-old woman who presented with clinical and radiological features of GOO secondary to Silimed IGB insertion which was successfully managed with endoscopic removal. The article reveals a predilection for this complication in women with endoscopic removal being the most commonly utilized modality in treatment.
