Postoperative bleeding and leaks in sleeve gastrectomy are independent of both staple height and staple line oversewing.

BACKGROUND: Over 100,000 sleeve gastrectomy procedures are performed annually in the USA. Despite technological advances, postoperative bleeding and gastric staple line leak are complications of this procedure. We analyzed patient-specific and perioperative factors to determine their association with these complications. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy between 2005 and 2019 at our institution. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and procedure details including type of energy device, staple type, staple height, staple line oversewing, and staple line clipping were compared using multiple logistic regression for combined postoperative complications (blood transfusion, bleeding, and staple line leak). Postoperative bleeding was defined by requiring blood transfusion and/or re-operation to control bleeding. Staple line leak was confirmed radiographically. RESULTS: There were 1213 patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy. Fifty-two high-risk patients were excluded due to cirrhosis, end-stage renal disease, and anticoagulation use for left ventricular assist device. Of the remaining 1161 patients, twenty-five (2.2%) received postoperative blood transfusion, nine (0.8%) had postoperative bleeding, two (0.2%) had staple line leak, and twenty-eight patients (2.4%) had combined postoperative complications. The median age was significantly higher for patients with combined postoperative complications (43 vs 49; p = 0.02). There was no difference in postoperative blood transfusion, bleeding, staple line leak, or combined postoperative complication with different energy devices (p = 0.92), staple types (p = 0.21), staple heights (p = 0.50), or staple line suturing/clipping (p = 0.95). In addition, there was no difference in bleeding when comparing staple line sewing techniques (p = 0.44). Predictably, patients with combined postoperative complications had increased length of stay (3 days vs 1 day; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Sleeve gastrectomy procedure has tremendous variability in technique and devices used. We observed no difference in the combined postoperative complications of bleeding or staple line leak with respect to different energy devices, staple height, or oversewing of the gastric staple line. Patient selection is crucial, as patient age and coagulopathic comorbidities were found to lead to higher combined postoperative complications.

Factors associated with home opioid use after thoracic surgery.

Objective: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) with a pre-emptive pain management program has been shown to decrease opioid prescriptions after thoracic surgery. We sought to determine which patient or procedural factors were associated with the need for prescription opioid medications after thoracic surgical procedures. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a postoperative pain survey at the time of follow-up in combination with procedural and patient characteristic data. We then performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression to determine factors associated with prescription opioids use. Results: Two hundred twenty-eight patients completed questionnaires at a median of 37 days after surgery. Most patients received minimally invasive surgery (n = 213, 93%) with the 2 most common types of operations being foregut (n = 92, 40%) and pulmonary resection (n = 80, 35%). Thirty-nine percent of patients (n = 89) were taking chronic pain medications preoperatively, with 15% on chronic opioids medication (n = 33). After surgery, 166 patients (72%) did not take opioids at home. Multivariate analysis showed any chronic opioid medications before surgery (odds ratio, 28.8; 95% confidence interval, 9.13-90.8, P < .001) were associated with opioid use postoperatively. In contrast, increase in age was associated with a decrease in opioid use (odds ratio, 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.93-0.99, P = .01). Conclusions: ERAS with pre-emptive pain management was associated with patients avoiding opioid prescriptions during recovery. The patient factor of preoperative opioid pain medication(s) and younger age is a significant factor for the patient needing opioids at home after surgery instead of procedural factors. Patient characteristics should be considered when tailoring the patient's pain management after thoracic surgical procedures.

Bariatric surgery for a patient with a HeartMate II ventricular assist device for destination therapy.

A patient with a HeartMate II left ventricular assist device who had a body mass index of 52 needed gastric bypass surgery in order to qualify for a heart transplant. Unlike previous experience in which the surgery was performed at the implant hospital, the gastric bypass surgery in this case was performed at a bariatric center of excellence that was a separate facility from the implant hospital. The artificial heart program of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center worked with the bariatric center of excellence in scheduling the gastric bypass surgery using a multidisciplinary team approach at 2 hospitals to coordinate safe, high-quality patient care in a unique situation.

Thoracic Cavernous Lymphangioma Provoking Massive Chyloptysis: A Case Report.

Chyloptysis is a relatively rare embodiment of disease that encompasses a lengthy differential and provides many diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Presented here is the case of a young woman with massive chyloptysis due to a thoracic cavernous lymphangioma arising in the peripartum period. The severity of her condition mandated the use of cardiopulmonary bypass to resect her lymphangioma. We believe that the extent of her symptoms, etiology of disease, and surgical management represent a unique scenario in the literature.