A systematic review of gastric plication for the treatment of obesity.

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic gastric plication (LGP) is a relatively new restrictive bariatric procedure that requires no gastrectomy or foreign body placement.

OBJECTIVES

The authors' aim in this article is to conduct a systematic review of the currently available literature regarding the outcomes of LGP for the treatment of obesity.

SETTING

University Hospital, China

METHODS

The authors' systematic review yielded 14 studies encompassing 1,450 LGP patients. Perioperative data were collected from each study and recorded.

RESULTS

Mean preoperative body mass index (BMI) ranged from 31.2 to 44.5 kg/m(2), and 80.8% of the patients were female. Operative time ranged from 50 to 117.9 minutes (average 79.2 min). Hospital stay varied from .75 to 5 days (average 2.4 days). The percentage of excessive weight loss (%EWL) for LGP varied from 31.8% to 74.4% with follow-up from 6 months to 24 months. No mortality was reported in these studies and the rate of major complications requiring reoperation ranged from 0% to 15.4% (average 3.7 %).

CONCLUSION

Early reports with LGP are promising with a favorable short-term safety profile. However, it remains unclear if weight loss following LGP is durable in the long term. Additional prospective comparative trials and long-term follow-up are needed to further define the role of LGP in the surgical management of obesity.