The role of endoscopy after vertical banded gastroplasty

Since 1984, a total of 99 patients underwent vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) through protocol (pouch 8 ml in size, band 4.3 cm in circumference) to treat morbid obesity. Follow-up was obtained in 95 patients. Thirty upper gastrointestinal endoscopies were performed post-operatively in 17 patients. Indications were nausea/vomiting in 11, epigastric pain in 4, acute obstructive symptoms in 4, and miscellaneous in three. Findings included food impaction in 10, distal esophagitis in 8, gastritis in 4, and a normal examination in 2. Only 4 of 10 food impactions were associated with an excessively narrowed gastroplasty outlet. Eight patients had an excessively narrowed gastric stoma: two became asymptomatic with dietary modification only and six underwent dilation therapy (dilator range from 8 to 18 mm in diameter) with immediate resolution of symptoms in four of six. One of the two patients unresponsive to dilation was lost to follow-up, and the other required surgical revision after multiple dilation sessions.