Postoperative Late Gastrointestinal Symptoms Following Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Background: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has emerged as a preliminary technique for high-risk patients before undergoing a more intricate surgery. Aim: To assess late GI symptoms after LSG including reflux, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, etc. Patients and methods: This was a combined prospective and retrospective trial included a total of fifty individuals The retrospective part included 30 patients from January 2020 till December 2020, whereas the prospective part included the remaining 20 cases from January 2021 till January 2022 at General Surgery Department, Mansoura University Hospitals, Mansoura, Egypt. Results: Oral intake was allowed after a mean duration of 1.22 days, while the duration of hospitalization had a mean value of 3.28 days. No patients developed bleeding or leakage in our study. However, only one patient had transient vomiting (2%) that was conservatively managed by IV fluids and antiemetics. The sleeve procedure was associated with a significant improvement in body weight manifested by the increased % excess weight loss (EWL) with time. Suter questionnaire and Bristol scale showed a significant decline after the procedure indicating decreased food tolerance after the procedure (p < 0.001). Conclusion: LSG was associated with excellent weight loss outcomes, low morbidity rates, and marked improvement of obesity-associated comorbidities. Nonetheless, it was associated with a marked negative impact on food intake and bowel habits, manifested in the decreased quality of food ingestion, increased tendency for constipation, and increased burden of reflux symptoms.