Impact of surgeon experience and buttress material on postoperative complications after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

BACKGROUND: Sleeve gastrectomy is gaining popularity whether as a primary, staged or revisional operation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the perioperative safety and the learning curve for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of the prospectively collected data for all patients who underwent LSG for the treatment of morbid obesity at our institution from January 2003 to December 2008. RESULTS: Data from 230 consecutive patients [male 47%, female 53%; mean age 44.0 ± 10.0 years, mean preoperative body mass index (BMI) 56.7 ± 11.5 kg/m(2)], who were operated upon by three surgeons with different degrees of bariatric experience, were analyzed. There was no 30-day mortality, but there were two cases of late mortality (0.87%). Early complications were noted in 23 cases (10.0%), including 10 cases of leak (4.3%) and 10 cases of hemorrhage (4.3%). In 17 cases (7.4%) reoperations were performed. The rates of overall and major complications did not differ among surgeons or between early and late period of experience for the three surgeons; this trend held true individually and in subgroups. Overall, over the course of the learning curve, a significant decrease in operative time was noted. The only factor that was independently associated with complications was use of buttress material; the likelihood of complications was found to be 72% lower in patients in whom buttress material was used. CONCLUSIONS: LSG constitutes a potentially safe anti-obesity procedure with acceptable morbidity. Experience at the beginning can be discouraging, even for surgeons with advanced laparoscopic skills. LSG can be performed safely, with proper mentoring and in appropriate settings, even by less experienced bariatric surgeons. The use of staple-line reinforcement was associated with improved perioperative outcomes, and it should be considered in an attempt to decrease leaks.

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy--influence of sleeve size and resected gastric volume.

BACKGROUND: Although the efficacy of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) for morbidly obese patients with a BMI of <50 kg/m2, the incidence of weight gain by change of eating behaviors, and gastric dilatation following LSG have not been investigated thus far, LSG is becoming more common as a single-stage operation for the treatment morbid obesity. METHODS: This is a prospective study of the initial 120 patients who underwent isolated LSG. Initially, the LSG was performed without a calibration tube and resulted in high sleeve volumes (group 1: n=25). In group 2 (n=32), a calibration tube of 44 Fr and in group 3 (n=63) a calibration tube of 32 Fr were used. The study group consists of 101 patients with high BMI who were scheduled for a two-step LBPD-DS, but rejected the second step after 1 year. Study endpoints include estimated sleeve volume, volume of removed stomach, operative time, complication rates, length of hospital stay, changes in co-morbidity, percentage of excess BMI loss (%EBL) and changes in BMI (kg/m2). RESULTS: All 3 groups were comparable regarding age, gender, and co-morbidities. There was no hospital mortality, but there was one case of late mortality (0.8%). 2 early leaks (1.7%) were seen. % excess BMI loss was significantly higher for patients who underwent LSG with tube calibrations. LSG with large sleeve volume showed a slight weight gain during 5 years of observation. A total of 16 patients (13.3%) underwent a second stage procedure within a period of 5 years (2 redo-sleeves, 7 LBPD-DS, 3 LRYGBP). CONCLUSION: Early weight loss results were not different between the groups, but after 2 years the more restrictive LSG (groups 2, 3) results were significantly better than in patients without calibration. A removed gastric volume of <500 cc seems to be a predictor of failure in treatment or early weight regain. A statistically significant improved health status and quality of life were registered for all groups. The general introduction of LSG as a one-stage restrictive procedure in the bariatric field can be considered only if the procedure is standardized and long-term results are available.