Gastric perforation during removal of an intragastric balloon.

The intragastric balloon system is licensed for temporary use in moderately obese patients who have significant health risks related to their obesity and have failed to achieve and maintain significant weight loss with a supervised weight control program alone. Although intragastric balloons are advocated as safe devices, major complications have been described. We report a case of a gastric perforation during the removal of an intragastric balloon. This is the first case reported in the literature.