[Retrospective Evaluation of Hypoxia and Silent Regurgitation during Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy]

The proportion of obese people is gradually increasing. In recent years, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has been performed as a weight loss surgery. We reported the extent of respiratory complications and the keys of anesthetic management in this procedure.

Forty consecutive morbidly obese patients received laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. A sample for arterial blood gas analysis was taken after intubation and at the end of the operation. Moreover, to examine the risk of silent aspiration, 16 patients were subjected to measuring the gastric juice volume and pH of the pharynx.

Oxygenation index (P/F ratio) after intuba- tion was markedly reduced, but there was no correla- tion with the BMI On the other hand, P/F ratio at the end of surgery improved in patients with low BMI Hypercapnia was rare after extubation, but respiratory rate was increased in the patients with high BMI Gas- tric secretion after induction was increased, but there was no overt sign of silent regurgitation of gastric juice.

Oxygenation was extremely deterio- rated immediately after intubation in the morbidly obese patients. There is a need for aggressive respira- tory management because intraoperative oxygenation was not improved in the patients with high BMI.