Five-year results after resleeve gastrectomy.

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has become increasingly popular in bariatric surgery. However, in the long-term follow-up, weight loss failure and intractable severe acid reflux after primary LSG can necessitate further interventions.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of our study was to evaluate long-term results 5 years after resleeve gastrectomy (ReSG).

SETTING

Private hospital, France.

METHODS

The study included all patients with failure after LSG who underwent ReSG between October 2008 and January 2014. The patients underwent radiologic evaluation, and an algorithm of treatment was proposed. We analyzed the 5-year outcomes concerning weight loss and long-term complications after ReSG.

RESULTS

A total of 52 patients (46 women; mean age 40.2 yr) with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 39.4 kg/m underwent ReSG. The mean interval time from the primary LSG to ReSG was of 27.8 months (11-72 mo). The indication for ReSG was inadequate weight loss (28 patients; 53.8%), weight regain (22 patients; 42.3%), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (2 patients; 3.8%). In 35 cases the contrast agent (diatrizoate meglumine/diatrizoate sodium solution [Gastrografin]) swallow results were interpreted as primary dilation and in the remaining 17 cases as secondary dilation. One patient died from gynecologic cancer. Of the remainder, 3 patients underwent single-anastomosis duodenoileal bypass, 5 patients underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and 1 patient underwent a second ReSG for reflux. A total of 39 of 42 patients with ReSG as definitive procedure had available data at 5-year follow-up. The mean percentage of excess BMI loss was 63.7%. Of the 39 patients, 28 (71.8%) had >50% excess BMI loss at 5 years. Eight of the 11 patients with weight loss failure (<50% excess BMI loss) after ReSG were diagnosed with secondary or diffuse dilation on preoperative imaging; the remaining 3 patients had been operated in our early initial experience with the resleeve procedure. All cases were completed by laparoscopy with no intraoperative incidents. In terms of complications, we recorded 1 leak, 2 stenoses, and 2 cases of bleeding with no mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

At 5 years postoperative, the ReSG as a definitive bariatric procedure remained effective for 53.8%. The results appear to be more favorable especially for the non-super-obese patients and for those with primary dilation. ReSG is a well-tolerated bariatric procedure with a low long-term complication rate. Further prospective clinical trials are required to compare the outcomes of ReSG with those of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or single-anastomosis duodenoileal bypass for weight loss failure after LSG.