Complications of laparoscopic versus open bariatric surgical interventions in obesity management

With the epidemic of obesity fast spreading its grasp throughout the world, the medical professionals of diverse facilities need to be called on for better management to prevent its further progression. In particular, the gastroenterologists have a major role to play in all aspects of obese patient care. They should be able to recognize and treat obesity and associated disorders through the understanding and assessment of the various benefits and risks linked with a particular type of obesity treatment option. While treating these problems, a better understanding of the physiologic and anatomic alterations that might be associated with the treatment procedure and the weight loss-linked problems in association with the method of surgical intervention need to be weighed. Morbid obesity has been efficaciously treated by bariatric surgery promoting weight loss considerably and reducing the obesity-associated risks such as certain cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. Bariatric surgery has been performed traditionally through open method or, the more recent and popular form, laparoscopically that involves only a small incision in the abdomen. The laparoscopic bariatric surgery has become the surgical method of choice since its introduction in 1993 and has immediately crossed open surgery in terms of popularity. Drastic numbers came out when the two methods were compared for their applicability during a 3-year period in the United States. Only 6,000 reported open gastric bypass surgeries were recorded, but the number soared to nearly 16,000 for laparoscopic gastric bypass surgeries. The laparoscopic method has been found to be associated with much reduced complications and hospital stay along with lower cases of mortality as suggested by small randomized controlled trials and observational studies. However, these facts need to be reassessed through large-sized controlled trials and population-based studies. In addition, the previously ignored complications associated with laparoscopic methods should be studied in detail. Since the cases of obesity have been ever increasing and bariatric surgery is also gaining in popularity, it is important that the safest procedure should be identified. The main objective of this review was to compare the benefits and risks associated with open versus laparoscopic mode of bariatric surgery with a greater focus on the laparoscopic method. Although there are few reviews that have compared the two methods, none have focused on the complications of the two approaches. All these aspects have been dealt in detail here.