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Early Routine Upper Gastrointestinal Contrast Study Following Bariatric Surgery: an Indispensable Postoperative Care or a Medicolegal Heritage?

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Abstract

Concerns still exist regarding the role of early routine upper gastrointestinal contrast study (UGI) after bariatric procedures for detection of early complications. We reviewed our database to identify patients who underwent laparoscopic primary or redo surgery (previously placement of adjustable gastric banding), between January 2012 and December 2017. All the patients underwent UGI within 48 h after surgery. Among 1094 patients, early UGI was abnormal in 5 patients: in 4 cases a leak (one false positive) and in one case stenosis (one true positive) were suspected. In this clinical setting, five leaks were observed and required surgical re-exploration: 3 correctly identified and 2 not detected at UGI. Overall, 3 patients developed anastomotic stenosis. Our data suggest that early routine UGI after bariatric procedures has limited utility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.O.C. Chirurgia Endocrina e Metabolica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A Gemelli IRCCS, L.go A. Gemelli 8, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Francesco Pennestrì, Francesca Prioli, Luca Sessa, Pierpaolo Gallucci, Luigi Ciccoritti, Pietro Princi, Rocco Bellantone & Marco Raffaelli

  2. Istituto di Semeiotica Chirurgica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, L.go A. Gemelli 8, Rome, 00168, Italy

    Francesca Prioli, Rocco Bellantone & Marco Raffaelli

  3. Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Surgery, Mater Olbia Hospital, Strada Statale 125 Orientale Sarda, Olbia, 07026, Italy

    Piero Giustacchini

  4. U.O.C. Radiologia Diagnostica e Interventistica Generale, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, L.go A. Gemelli 8, Rome, 00168, Italy

    Brunella Barbaro

  5. U.O.S.A. Radiologia d’Urgenza, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, L.go A. Gemelli 8, Rome, 00168, Italy

    Brunella Barbaro & Maria Gabriella Brizi

  6. Istituto di Radiologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, L.go Gemelli 8, Rome, 00168, Italy

    Maria Gabriella Brizi

Authors
  1. Francesco Pennestrì
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  2. Francesca Prioli
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  3. Luca Sessa
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  4. Pierpaolo Gallucci
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  5. Luigi Ciccoritti
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  6. Piero Giustacchini
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  7. Brunella Barbaro
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  8. Maria Gabriella Brizi
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  9. Pietro Princi
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  10. Rocco Bellantone
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  11. Marco Raffaelli
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Contributions

• Study conception and design: Francesco Pennestrì, Luca Sessa

• Acquisition of data: Pierpaolo Gallucci, Luigi Ciccoritti, Piero Giustacchini, Pietro Princi

• Analysis and interpretation of data: Brunella Barbaro, Maria Gabriella Brizi

• Drafting of manuscript: Francesco Pennestrì, Francesca Prioli

• Critical revision of manuscript: Rocco Bellantone, Marco Raffaelli

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luca Sessa.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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This work has been presented, as oral presentation (free paper), at 23rd International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorder (IFSO) World Congress, DUBAI—27–29 September 2018.

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Pennestrì, F., Prioli, F., Sessa, L. et al. Early Routine Upper Gastrointestinal Contrast Study Following Bariatric Surgery: an Indispensable Postoperative Care or a Medicolegal Heritage?. OBES SURG 29, 1995–1998 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-019-03850-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-019-03850-3

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