Original title: Spontaneous Hyperinflation of Intragastric Balloon Presenting as Acute Pancreatitis
Ong Yan Ling, Rajesh R, Asokkumar Ravishankar · August 2026
Obesity affects people worldwide and can cause severe health problems. To treat it, doctors often place an intragastric balloon inside the stomach to help patients lose weight. While usually safe, this device can trigger rare complications. Doctors studied a patient whose stomach balloon swelled up on its own. This happened because a fungus called Candida grew inside or around the balloon, making it hyperinflate, or puff up too much. The swollen balloon pressed directly against the nearby pancreas. This pressure caused acute pancreatitis, a painful swelling of the pancreas. Doctors acted quickly and took the balloon out through an endoscope, a flexible tube. Removing the device completely cleared up the patient's symptoms.
Imagine a sealed plastic bag inside a lunchbox. If something inside the bag produces gas, the bag inflates and presses against the lunchbox walls. In this paper, the intragastric balloon is like the plastic bag, and the Candida infection is the gas-producing agent. The inflated balloon compresses the pancreas, leading to pancreatitis.
For patients using intragastric balloons to manage obesity, this case reveals a rare but serious complication: the balloon can spontaneously over-inflate due to a Candida infection, compressing the pancreas and causing acute pancreatitis. Recognizing this early and removing the balloon promptly leads to full recovery. It underscores the need for vigilance in patients with IGBs who develop abdominal pain.
This is a single case report, so it does not establish how common this complication is or prove a causal mechanism. The abstract does not provide details on patient demographics, diagnostic criteria, or long-term follow-up. The findings may not generalize to all intragastric balloon patients.
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Spontaneous Hyperinflation of Intragastric Balloon Presenting as Acute Pancreatitis — Ong Yan Ling, Rajesh R, Asokkumar Ravishankar — DEN open — doi:10.1002/deo2.70414
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.