Pregnancy outcomes after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in morbidly obese Korean patients

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is an effective procedure for treating morbid obesity, and the majority of female patients who received LSG were at childbearing age. Female patients, who successfully lost weight following LSG and became pregnant, need to be evaluated carefully. Information was gathered, through prospectively maintained database and phone interview, on women who underwent LSG from May 2003 to July 2011. A total of 136 women underwent LSG in this period. There were 13 (9.6 %) pregnancies in 12 patients after LSG. The age before surgery was 28.3 ± 4.0. The mean weight and body mass index (BMI) before LSG were 95.3 ± 9.4 kg and 35.1 ± 3.5 kg/m(2), respectively. The average time from LSG to the first live birth was 32.0 ± 19.1 months. Mean BMI decreased significantly after LSG, from 35.1 ± 3.5 to 24.9 ± 2.3 kg/m(2) at conception. The mean percentage of excess body mass index loss was 85.8 ± 16.7 % at conception and 42.7 ± 25.1 % at delivery. Gained weight during pregnancy was 15.1 ± 5.2 kg. The mean gestational age and birth weight were 39.0 ± 1.6 weeks and 3,229.0 ± 505.9 g. In two cases (15.4 %), cesarean section was performed. No cases of pregnancy-induced hypertension and diabetes developed. Major congenital anomalies and neonatal deaths were not recorded. Larger study with longer follow-up is needed to evaluate the effect of LSG in pregnancies. However, these findings show that LSG seems to be a safe option for morbidly obese women in their reproductive period.