Sleeve gastrectomy in a patient with situs inversus: a case report

Situs inversus (SI) is a very rare congenital disease affecting one in 10 000 people. It is characterized by a mirror image transposition of both abdominal and thoracic organs. Diagnosis of SI is usually made incidentally while investigating for unrelated medical problem. It can be associated with cardiac and respiratory anomalies that may cause perioperative morbidity if not diagnosed before surgery. There are limited case reports in literature of SI patients that underwent bariatric procedures. We report a case of a 32-year-old female with SI partialis and levocardia who successfully underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. We concluded that sleeve gastrectomy is safe in patients with SI if diagnosed preoperatively and if all the necessary precautions are taken into consideration before and during the surgery.