Manatee Memorial Hospital is first to offer Non-surgical weight loss option

Manatee Memorial Hospital is the first hospital to offer a Orbera Intragastric Balloon Weight Loss Procedure. This is a procedure for people interested in loosing from 30-50 pounds without any surgery.

“One of the biggest things we find in our patients is so many of them are terrified of undergoing surgery,” said Dr. Rekkas. “They don’t want general anesthesia, they don’t want scars.” With this medical procedure the patients don’t have to go through surgery and they don’t risk getting any scars.

Basically the patient goes into a light sedation and while the patient is asleep doctors insert a silicone deflated water balloon that gets expanded in the stomach. The procedure takes 15 minutes and the balloon will stay in place for six months.

With the help of the balloon, the stomach learns to have a feeling of fullness from consuming less food. After this procedure the patient will have to follow nutritional and exercise guidelines.