Is belching increasing after bariatric bypass surgery in the long term period?

Gastric bypass surgery effectively treats obesity; however, its association with belching, which occurs in other bariatric surgeries, remains unclear. Hence, we aimed to evaluate belching occurrence after gastric bypass surgery.

We enrolled 12 healthy volunteers and 17 patients (12 and 5 underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and mini-gastric bypass surgeries 24 (18-54) months prior, respectively). Gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed. Gastroscopy was performed, followed by the 24-hour pH-impedance analysis.

Age and sex were not statistically different between the two groups (P > 0.05). Patients had a significantly higher mean DeMeester score than the healthy controls (9.11 ± 19.40 vs. 6.04 ± 5.60, P = 0.048), but the pathologic acid reflux (DeMeester score > 14) rate was similar in both groups (11.8% vs. 8.3%). Regarding the impedance, symptom-association probability was positive in 11.8% of patients. The patients also had higher alkaline reflux rates (6% vs. 0%); additionally, 50% of them experienced belching based on the questionnaire, and 25% had esophagitis based on gastroscopy. Furthermore, patients had a significantly higher number of gas reflux (123.24 ± 80 vs. 37.2 ± 21.5, P = 0.001) and supragastric/ gastric belches (182 ± 64/228 ± 66.69 vs. 25.08 ± 15.20/12.17 ± 17.65, P = 0.001). Supragastric belching was more frequent than gastric belching in the controls, whereas gastric belching was more frequent in the patients.

Belching increases after gastric bypass surgery in a long-term period. Gastric belching was more frequent than supragastric belching in these patients.