Intragastric balloon as a bridging therapy in children and adolescents before orthopedic surgery.

Background: Intragastric balloons (IGB) offer a less invasive solution for obesity. The current work aimed to test thefeasibility of IGB as a bridging therapy in old children and adolescents with obesity before orthopedic surgery.Patients and Methods: A retrospective review of medical records was performed from January 2021 to December 2022.Included patients were old children and adolescents with body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to the 95th percentilefor age and sex in association with orthopedic pathology. They were managed by endoscopic guided insertion of IGB.Results: Eleven males and seven females were enrolled. Their mean age was 127/12 years (±1 3/12 SD). Before IGB,their mean BMI percentile was 98.88 (±0.56 SD). The mean operative time was 28.28 min (±3.64 SD). At the time ofballoon retrieval, eight patients were below the 95th percentile for age and sex, three patients reached the 95th percentile,while seven patients remained above the 95th percentile. There was a significant difference between the mean values ofBMI and percentiles before and after IGB (P value <0.001).Conclusion: IGB can serve as a bridging therapy for children and adolescents with obesity before orthopedic surgery,facilitating the restoration of their regular physical activity levels.