Acute pancreatitis as a late complication of intra-gastric balloon insertion

Abstract

Intra-gastric balloon (IGB) insertion is a safe, well-tolerated and an effective weight loss procedure. It is commonly used as a step prior to bariatric surgery in obese patients with co-morbidities and failed conservative weight-loss methods. The main side effects post-IGB placement include nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The reported complications of IGB include balloon over-inflation, balloon migration, esophagitis, ulceration, gastric perforation and bowel obstruction. We report a case of acute pancreatitis attributed to IGB placement, which is a rare complication of this procedure. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis due to IGB was made after excluding other causes of acute pancreatitis by radiological imaging. The patient underwent endoscopic IGB removal with rapid post-surgical improvement of her clinical course.