Revision of failed horizontal gastroplasty by vertical banded gastroplasty

Eighteen patients who had undergone horizontal gastroplasty experienced postoperative weight gain due to technical failure (large orifice in 10 patients, staple-line disruption in 7 and a large pouch in 1). A vertical banded gastroplasty was used to correct the problem, with a resulting operative morbidity of 38.9%. This included perforation with peritonitis (five patients) and complete outlet obstruction (two patients). These complications appear to result from poor blood supply to the area of the anastomosis necessary in this conversion. This study indicates that it is not safe to use vertical banded gastroplasty for the failed horizontal gastroplasty.