Letter to Editor Regarding "Weight Loss Maintenance 1 year after the Swallowable Gastric Balloon: Results from an...

This letter to the Editor reviews the study by Caballero et al. (2025) on weight loss maintenance one year after the Swallowable Gastric Balloon. Although the study fills a significant gap in the research and demonstrates promising results, some limitations warrant discussion. These include: (1) lack of efficacy data beyond one year, an area which might interest future researchers; (2) the clinical significance of weight loss is questionable for patients with severe obesity, as a significant number of study participants fell into class 1 or 2 obesity categories; (3) the study provided minimal details about behavioral interventions, diet protocols, and physical activity of participants; (4) no cost-effectiveness analysis was included, leaving questions about economic justification compared to alternatives; and (5) it is a retrospective study, lacking a control or comparator group making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. We appreciate the authors' efforts to add significant evidence on the role of the Swallowable Gastric Balloon program in obesity treatment, but propose future research to address these notable gaps. These improvements would strengthen the evidence regarding the long-term efficacy of the Swallowable Gastric Balloon in weight maintenance.