Long-term endoscopic follow-up after sleeve gastrectomy

Area of Science:

• Bariatric surgery outcomes
• Gastroenterology
• Digestive health

Background:

• Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) can lead to significant upper gastrointestinal issues.
• Esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, and esophageal cancer are potential complications.
• Regular endoscopic surveillance is often necessary post-SG.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the incidence and severity of esophageal and gastric abnormalities following SG.
• To assess the long-term endoscopic findings in patients who have undergone SG.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of esogastric endoscopies in SG patients.
• Data collected from April 2010 to August 2014, with follow-up from January 2018 to June 2019.
• Inclusion of patients who underwent SG up to five years prior.

Main Results:

• Only 10.2% of SG patients participated in the follow-up endoscopy.
• Common findings included gastritis (35.9%), esophagitis (19.2%), and hiatal hernia (23.1%).
• De novo esophagitis developed in 93.3% of esophagitis cases; one case of Barrett's esophagus was identified.

Conclusions:

• A low patient participation rate (10.2%) was observed for long-term endoscopic follow-up.
• The high frequency of endoscopic anomalies suggests a need for systematic surveillance.
• Routine upper endoscopy is recommended for long-term monitoring after sleeve gastrectomy.