Vitamin A deficiency following small-bowel bypass surgery for obesity.

Side effects are common in individuals who have undergone small-bowel bypass surgery for morbid obesity. Most of these side effects subside after a few months. More serious complications may require reestablishment of the bypassed loop. Rarely have vitamin deficiencies been observed. Development of vitamin A deficiency in a patient was characterized by phrynoderma and night blindness. This was promptly reversed by oral treatment with vitamin A. There was no improvement in low to subnormal serum levels of fat-soluble vitamins after a course of tetracycline hydrochloride. Studies suggested presence of a malabsorption state probably due to rapid transit time through the small bowel and reduced absorptive surface.