Slovenská chirurgia 1/2023

Early complications after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy

Introduction: Morbid obesity is a serious medical, but also socio-economic problem. Excess body weight is the second most common cause of premature death. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is, in our conditions, thanks to its technical simplicity and excellent results, the most used surgical method in the treatment of morbid obesity. Patients and methods: Between October 2018 and November 2022, a total of 100 patients underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy at the Department of Surgery of the University of Pavel Jozef Šafárik in Košice, Faculty of Medicine, AGEL Hospital Košice-Šaca. There were 68 women and 32 men in the group of patients. The average age of the patients was 45 years and the average Body Mass Index was 47 kg/ m2. The incidence of early postoperative complications after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy was monitored in the group of patients. Results: A 7% rate of early postoperative complications was recorded in the patient group. Complications such as intra-abdominal bleeding, wound infection, trocar injury and pneumonia occurred in 1%. Leak in the area of the stapling line occurred in 3% of patients. In three cases, the patient died as a result of an early postoperative complication. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic treatment of early postoperative complications can reduce the morbidity and mortality of patients after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. The most serious complication of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is a leak in the area of the stapling line, in which, despite early therapeutic intervention, the consequences for the patient can be fatal.

Keywords: morbid obesity, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, early complications