Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and gastroesophageal reflux

The prevalence of obesity is rising, becoming a medical problem worldwide. Also GERD incidence is higher in obese patients compared with normal weight, with an increased risk of 2.5 of developing symptoms and erosive esophagitis. Different treatment modalities have been proposed to treat obese patients, but bariatric surgery due to its complex interactions via anatomic, physiologic and neurohormonal changes achieved the best long-term results, with sustained weight loss and decrease of complications and mortality caused by obesity. The bariatric surgical procedures can be restrictive: laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB) and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), or malabsorptive-restrictive such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). These surgical procedures may influence esophageal motility and lead to esophageal complications like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and erosive esophagitis. From the literature we know that the RYGB can ameliorate GERD symptoms, and some bariatric procedures were finally converted to RYGB because of refractory reflux symptoms. For LAGB the results are good at the beginning, but some patients experienced new reflux symptoms in the follow-up period. Recently LSG has become more popular than other complex bariatric procedures, but some follow-up studies report a high risk of GERD after it. This article reviews the results published after LSG regarding gastroesophageal reflux and the mechanisms responsible for GERD in morbidly obese subjects.